An unprecedented level of air pollution in Lahore, Pakistan's second-largest city, has forced authorities to take emergency measures, including the closing of primary schools and the issuance of work-from-home orders.
The air-quality index on November 3 in the city of more than 14 million people near the Indian border rose above 1,000 -- far exceeding the 300 level that is considered "dangerous," according to the Swiss-based firm IQAir.
The Punjab regional government called the pollution "unprecedented” – blaming pollutants caused by diesel fumes, smoke from agricultural burning, and heating processes.
IQAir said the level of Fine Particulate Matter (PM2.5) -- which causes the most damage to residents’ health -- in Lahore is currently 44.4 times the WHO annual air-quality guideline value.
Pollution and related health risks have long been an issue for Lahore and other cities in the region. The latest numbers qualified Lahore to move to the top of the unenviable list of the world’s most polluted cities.
Lahore authorities closed down primary schools for one week and urged parents to ensure that their children wear masks.
"Weather forecasts for the next six days show that wind patterns will remain the same. Therefore, we are closing all government and private primary schools in Lahore for a week," Jahangir Anwar, a senior environmental protection official in Lahore, told the AFP news agency.
Marriyum Aurangzeb, the senior minister of Punjab Province, urged all residents to remain indoors and keep doors and windows closed.
She added that 50 percent of staff at government and private offices would be mandated to work from home as of November 4.
Officials said conditions will be reexamined on November 10.
Aurangzeb attributed the dangerous situation to winds carrying pollutants from neighboring India, along with the local factors.
"This cannot be solved without talks with India," she said.
In a 2019 report, the University of Chicago’s Energy Policy Institute wrote that “inhabitants of cities throughout Asia pay the steepest price” from pollution.
“If current air-pollution concentrations are sustained, the average person in major Asian cities like Beijing, Lahore, and Delhi will live more than five years less than if their air met guidelines established by the World Health Organization.”
