India's toxic air choking smog-ridden Punjab, now floats towards KP

The thick smoggy air floating from India, which has impacted air quality across Punjab, is now moving towards Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, worsening the province's atmosphere.

The impact of the ongoing smog crisis in Pakistan has continued to intensify, as the hazardous air toxins from India engulf the region and contaminate the air, with Lahore being one of the most polluted cities in the country on the global air pollution ranking.

The city's air quality index (AQI) level recorded at 10am reached 613 on the real-time list of Swiss group IQ Air. Lahore's AQI level at 11:57am today stood at 509 with city topping the list in Pakistan, followed by Multan with 469 on second position and Peshawar at the third rank with 457.

Meanwhile, (PM2.5) pollutants — the fine particulate matter in the air that causes the most damage to health — were earlier recorded at 382.2, which was 76.4 times higher than the World Health Organisation's (WHO) annual air quality guideline value.

After affecting various cities in Punjab, smog spread beyond the province, blanketing some of the districts in KP, where citizens complained of eye and throat infections and breathing issues.

After Punjab's Multan — where the AQI was recorded at 587 last night — KP capital Peshawar ranked the third most polluted city in the country, with an AQI of 587, a level deemed hazardous by the Swiss air quality monitor.

The cities worst hit by air pollution after Lahore and Multan were Bahawalpur, Faisalabad, Sargodha where air quality was poor.

Connecting arteries and thoroughfares including Lahore-Sialkot Motorway, Motorways M1, M2 and M5 were blocked at various points causing traffic disruptions in Punjab. Moreover, roads connecting Punjab with Sindh and inter-provincial border areas were also hit by smog.

Multiple casualties were reported in separate road accidents due to dense smog and consequent low visibility.

In Ghotki, a woman was killed and a man was injured in an accident on National Highway near Ghotki, while another woman and her two children were killed in a separate accident in Gojra, when a tractor trolley ran over a motorcycle.

Meanwhile, two others were killed and nine people were injured when a passenger bus rammed into a trailer truck parked on the roadside in Bhakkar.

In the wake of these accidents, traffic police has advised commuters to be extra cautious and only travel during the day hours, while ensuring road safety with the use of fog lights.

On the other hand, the Environment Protection Department has advised citizens to install air purifiers to protect themselves from the impact of smog in Punjab.

In a notification, the department's Director General Imran Hamid Sheikh has instructed the installation of air purifiers across all shopping malls in Punjab.

"All commercial plazas of the province will also install air purifiers," read the notification, directing to ensure the supply of clean air to customers owing to the worsening air quality in Lahore, Faisalabad, Multan and Gujranwala divisions.

As the country battles air pollution, the most populated province of Punjab has ordered public spaces closed and banned all outdoor activities in smog-hit main cities till November 17.

As per a report by The News, a meeting of the smog steering committee, headed by Senior Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb, on Saturday decided that the government will present a dossier smog mitigation orders before the Lahore High Court, which has ordered various measures to bring down levels of pollution in smog hit cities.

The government has attributed this year's particularly high pollution levels to toxic air from neighbouring India, where air quality has also reached hazardous levels.

Today, the AQI level in Indian capital New Delhi was 275, which is much lower than the statistics from the past couple of weeks, but the megapolis remained the second most polluted city in the world on IQ Air's list.