LAHORE – Punjab government has closed schools and intermediate colleges in five more divisions as smog situation continues to worsen.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued a notification in this regarding, stating that the educational institutions are also being closed in Sargodha, Rawalpindi, Dera Ghazi Khan, Bahawalpur, and Sahiwal divisions.
All schools from nursery to grade 12 and tuitions centres will remain closed from November 13 to 17, the agency said, adding that the educational institutions can switch to online classes.
Previously, the educational institutions have been closed in Lahore, Faisalabad, Multan and Gujranwala division in order to save students from the pollution, which causes various throat, eye and skin infections.
The capital city of Punjab province, Lahore, again ranked the most polluted city in the world as air quality remains hazardous with AQI reaching 744 on Tuesday.
Data available on Swiss air quality monitor IQAir’s website shows the concentration of harmful particulate matter (PM2.5) pollutants that cause the most damage to health, surged to 448, which is 89.6 times the WHO annual air quality guideline value.
