Lahore tops global pollution chart as smog levels stay hazardous
Aaj News put the citywide index at 289 and Canal Road at 639, while Express News, citing IQAir, recorded 453 for Lahore and 828 in Multan.
Lahore was ranked the world's most polluted major city on Tuesday, with monitors in several neighbourhoods recording air quality far past the level considered hazardous.
Aaj News reported that the city's overall air quality index stood at 289, and that Canal Road was the worst affected area at 639. Burki Road recorded 370, Allama Iqbal Town 342, Gulberg 324, Bedian 318 and Lower Mall 303, according to the Met department. Model Town and Johar Town stood at 289 and DHA at 255, the outlet reported.
Express News, citing IQAir, put Lahore's index at 453 for the day and placed Delhi second among major cities at 224. It reported a reading of 706 at a monitoring point it listed as the CERP office, 690 in Allama Iqbal Town and 639 on Burki Road at Paragon. It gave 509 for Raiwind, 511 for Kahna Nau and a separate citywide reading of 459.
Figures from Punjab Air Quality Monitoring cited by Express News put Multan Road at the 500 ceiling, with PM2.5 at 541.1 micrograms per cubic metre and PM10 at 1,398.3. Safari Park and GT Road also recorded 500, Kahna Nau 490, Gulberg III 475 and Egerton Road 432. Shahdara and DHA Phase 6 recorded 392, Burki Road 390, Punjab University 373 and Wahga Border 256.
Outside the provincial capital, Express News reported 828 in Multan and 565 in Gujranwala.
Aaj News attributed the spike to polluted air carried across the border from Diwali fireworks in India, and said the citywide index had come down to 289 while individual areas stayed at hazardous levels. Express News gave no cause, reporting that pollution has remained at dangerous levels in several parts of Lahore despite anti-smog measures.
Senior Provincial Minister Maryam Aurangzeb said water is being sprayed through smog guns in the areas with the highest pollution, and that legal action against people violating environmental laws is continuing, according to Aaj News.
How the reports differ
Both outlets ranked Lahore first among major cities for the day and reported hazardous readings, then parted on the numbers. Aaj News gave a citywide index of 289 and named Canal Road the worst area at 639, while Express News, citing IQAir, put the city at 453 with 706 at one monitoring point and 639 on Burki Road at Paragon. Aaj News led on smoke from Diwali fireworks in India as the cause and carried the provincial government's response, including Maryam Aurangzeb's statement, neither of which appears in the Express News report. Express News instead gave figures for Multan and Gujranwala and a district-wise breakdown from Punjab Air Quality Monitoring that Aaj News did not carry.
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