Toxic smog engulfed Lahore on Tuesday as Pakistan’s second largest city topped the list of the world’s most polluted cities for the third day.
The city on Tuesday held the top spot on a real-time list of the world’s most polluted cities with an air quality index of 324 around 2 p.m. local time (0900 GMT) according to Swiss group IQAir, which categorized the air quality as ‘hazardous’. Smog was also visible in Karachi which was ranked the world’s second most polluted city.
An AQI between 101 and 200 is considered ‘unhealthy’, particularly for sensitive groups while an AQI between 201 and 300 is said to be ‘very unhealthy’ and above 300 is ‘hazardous’.
The state government of Pakistan’s Punjab has attributed the pollution to rubble being burnt in neighboring country India and said cloud seeding plans to introduce rain that could disperse smog and haze were underway.
(Source: Reuters)
