With thick layers of smog hovering over Lahore since a weekend of clean air after much-needed rainfall, the air quality level of the city has spiked to hazardous levels.
On Thursday morning, Lahore ranked as the second most polluted city in the world, as its Air Quality Index was recorded at an alarming rate of 470, indicating a ‘Hazardous’ level, as per IQAir, a Swiss air quality monitor.
The only city ahead of Lahore on the list of most polluted cities was New Delhi in India with an AQI of 514.
Within Lahore, the most polluted area was found to be Phase 8 in Defence with an AQI of 751, followed by Polo Ground Cantt with 582.
The air quality of Lahore has consistently remained hazardous, not just over the past couple of months, but also in the last few years with the onset of the ‘fifth season’ of smog. The air quality levels continue to dip after September until at least February.
Meanwhile, Karachi was ranked the third most polluted city in the world with an AQI of a little less than 200, way better than the air quality of Lahore.
