LAHORE – Pakistan’s Lahore tops the list of the most polluted cities in the world with an Air Quality Index (AQI) of 202 (very unhealthy) on Sunday afternoon.
Due to ever-increasing pollution, a smog alert has been issued in Punjab. Citizens have been advised to take precautionary measures like using masks while going outdoors, stopping children from playing outside and avoiding travelling to heavily polluted areas.
Citizens have been advised to drive carefully due to reduced visibility, especially early morning and late at night. Medical experts have advised residents to take precautions to avoid flu, skin allergy, eyesore and other diseases.
Per the data collected from the IQ Air website on Sunday at 3 pm, Delhi (India) ranked second with an AQI of 189 (unhealthy), followed by Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo with an AQI of 171 (unhealthy).
Dhaka (Bangladesh) is ranked in fourth place with an AQI of 156 (unhealthy), closely followed by Mumbai (India) with an AQI of 151 (unhealthy).
The air quality in sixth to tenth-ranked cities is unhealthy for the sensitive groups.
Per the environmentalists, the use of substandard fuels such as plastic and rubber especially in the cottage industry around Bund Road is contributing significantly to the deteriorating air quality. They claimed that the government was not taking effective measures to tackle the issue of air pollution.
Vehicular emissions, stubble burning and transboundary pollution are the main reasons for smog formation.
Similarly, LDA and other institutions are doing patchwork of roads in Lahore due to which movement of heavy machinery is a routine.
Most of the heavy vehicles owned by public departments such as LWMC, Wasa, LDA, MCL, C&W etc lacked fitness certificates and were never checked by the relevant authorities.
EPA claimed taking all measures to tackle Smog. A ban has been imposed on the movement of uncovered sand/mud trollies across the province, the EPA officials claimed.
