Toxic smog returns to Lahore as air quality hits dangerous levels

Lahore's air has turned toxic again, with Dunya News reporting that pollution in the city has reached dangerous levels and a high alert has been issued, and The Express Tribune reporting that smog has returned to Lahore.

Both outlets carried the same development. Neither report, in the form available to this newspaper, included air quality index readings, hospital admission figures or the text of any government advisory. Dunya News described the air as toxic and the pollution as at dangerous levels without quoting an official measurement. The Express Tribune called the latest spell the return of toxic smog, suggesting the city had a period of comparatively cleaner air before it.

Neither outlet gave the areas worst hit, the number of people falling ill or a comparison with previous days. Skardu Times could not independently verify the pollution levels cited.

Lahore is the capital of Punjab and the country's second-largest city. Smog is an annual feature of its late-autumn and winter months, generally attributed to a mix of vehicle exhaust, industrial emissions and the burning of crop residue on the surrounding plains, which is held near the ground when temperatures fall and winds drop. Repeated exposure is linked to respiratory and heart disease, eye irritation and skin complaints. In past winters authorities have advised residents to wear masks, keep windows shut and limit outdoor exertion. No fresh advisory from the Punjab government or the provincial environment department appeared in the reports available.

Lahore and much of the Punjab plains are affected each year from late October into January, with visibility dropping and hospitals reporting a rise in patients with breathing difficulty. The pollutants sit over the city on the same still winter air that blankets the region, so the problem crosses provincial boundaries.

What the current spell means for schools, traffic or industrial activity is not yet clear from the published reports. Skardu Times will update this story if air quality figures and official statements become available.