Lahore tops list of most polluted cities

LAHORE : The provincial capital stood first in the list of world’s top ten most polluted cities as the average AQI reached 266 (very unhealthy) while the highest crossed 500 here on Saturday.

Data collected from IQAir revealed that the PM2.5 concentration in the city was 38.2 times the World Health Organisation annual PM2.5 guideline value. As per the data, Lahore was on top of the world’s top ten most polluted cities while Dhaka, Bangladesh was second with an AQI of 238 and Hanoi, Vietnam was third with an AQI of 238. Rest of the top ten most polluted cities included Delhi, India (214), Accra, Ghana (187), Chongqing, China (182), Cairo, Egypt (176), Kuwait City, Kuwait (160), Wuhan, China (159) and Krasnoyarsk, Russia (158).

The most polluted localities of the city included Polo Ground Cantt (555), Burki Road (414), DHA phase V (380), Tufail Road near Rahat Bakery (374), Mini Market Gulberg (364), Askari 10 (356), Valancia Town (356), Hiking & Mountaineering Club GCU (354), US Consulate (334) and Thokar (302).

Meanwhile, MET officials said continental air was prevailing over most parts of the country while a shallow westerly wave was likely to affect western and upper parts from today (evening/night).

Saturday’s lowest minimum temperature was recorded at Leh where mercury dropped down to -13°C while in Lahore it was 4.2°C and maximum was 21.2°C.