Lahore’s Air Quality Index continues to deteriorate

LAHORE:The Air Quality Index of the provincial capital remained very unhealthy as the PM2.5 concentrations was 29.4 times higher than the WHO annual air quality guideline value.

Data collected from IQAir revealed that the average AQI of Lahore was 222, which came in the category of very unhealthy. As per the data, the highest AQI of 306 was recorded on Bedian Road. Rest of the top most polluted places included University of Management and Technology (278), Polo Ground Cantt (275), US Consulate (243), WWF-Pakistan (241), MM Alam Road (235) and Revenue Employees Coop Housing Society (232).

Meanwhile, Met officials said a westerly wave was likely to affect western parts of the country. They predicted that cloudy weather with rain-wind/thunderstorm (snowfall over hills) was expected in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan while partly cloudy weather with light to moderate rain-wind/thunderstorm was also expected at isolated places in Upper Punjab, Islamabad, Murree and Galliyat during evening/night.

They predicted that cold and dry weather was expected in other parts of the country. Smog/fog (in patches) was likely to prevail in isolated plain areas of Punjab and upper Sindh during morning/night hours.

Thursday’s minimum temperature was recorded at Leh where mercury dropped to -09°C, while in Lahore, it was 12.2°C and maximum was 25.6°C. Meanwhile, following the directives of the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Punjab, police booked 11 people and arrested 3 ones on charges of defying smog regulations during the last 24 hours. The police also issued warnings to several people. According to a spokesperson, during the last 24 hours, 4,820 owners of smoky vehicles were ticketed and 453 vehicles were impounded.