The air quality in Lahore rises to 1,067 in the ‘hazardous’ category, a new record

Air pollution in Pakistan’s second-largest city, Lahore, soared on Saturday, with one official calling it a record high for the smog-choked megacity.

For days, the city of 14 million people has been shrouded in smog, a mix of fog and pollutants caused by low-grade diesel fumes, smoke from seasonal agricultural burning and winter cooling.

The air quality index, which measures a range of pollutants, peaked at 1,067 – well above the 300 level considered ‘hazardous’ – according to IQAir data.

“We never reached a level of 1,000,” Jahangir Anwar, a senior environmental protection official in Lahore, told AFP.

“The air quality index will remain high for the next three to four days,” Anwar said.

Levels of deadly PM2.5 pollutants – fine particles in the air that cause the most damage to health – peaked at 610 – more than 40 times the limit of 15 in a 24-hour period considered healthy by the WHO considered.

“As a mother, I am full of fear,” 42-year-old Lilly Mirza told AFP from the choked city.

“Last year wasn’t that bad, it was much better. Someone has to tell us what happened. Has a pollution bomb gone off somewhere?’

Mirza said she felt “completely terrorized” after taking her son to a sports match in one of the pollution hotspots: “I came home so stressed.”

Breathing the toxic air has catastrophic health consequences. The WHO says strokes, heart disease, lung cancer and respiratory diseases can be caused by long-term exposure.

Smog is especially pronounced in winter, when cold, denser air traps emissions from poor-quality fuels used to power the city’s vehicles and factories at ground level.

The smell of toxic fumes has become known to the 40-year-old painter Rehmat, who goes by one name.

“What can a poor painter like me do if the government cannot solve this? I will keep the mask on and go to work,” he told AFP.

Last month, authorities banned schoolchildren from outdoor sports until January and adjusted school hours to prevent children from traveling when pollution is most punishable.

Children are particularly vulnerable because they have less developed lungs and breathe faster, taking in more air in relation to their size than adults.

Last week, the provincial environmental protection agency announced new restrictions on four “hotspots” in the city.

Tuk-tuks equipped with polluting two-stroke engines are banned, as are restaurants that barbecue without filters.

Government offices and private companies will allow half of their staff to work from home from Monday.

Construction work has stopped and street and food vendors, who often cook on open fires, must close at 8 p.m.

According to the University of Chicago’s Energy Policy Institute, pollution above the level considered safe by the WHO shortens the life expectancy of residents of Lahore by an average of 7.5 years.

According to UNICEF, nearly 600 million children in South Asia are exposed to high levels of air pollution and half of childhood pneumonia deaths are linked to air pollution.

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