Cross-border smog turns air toxic

LAHORE:

Punjab's air quality deteriorated sharply on Wednesday as polluted winds blowing in from India's border districts pushed smog levels to very unhealthy thresholds across several cities, prompting health advisories and renewed concern from environmental officials.

According to Punjab's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), polluted air masses drifting from Amritsar, Jalandhar and Ludhiana intensified smog across Lahore, Kasur, Sheikhupura, Gujranwala and Faisalabad. The latest eight-hour EPA bulletin placed Lahore's average Air Quality Index at 326 - a level categorised as "very unhealthy." Several monitoring stations in the provincial capital climbed even higher; readings at the University of Engineering and Technology (UET) reached 404, making it the city's most polluted point over the reporting period.

Other hot spots included Kahna Nau Hospital at 364, PKLI at 342, Shahdara Teaching Hospital at 338, and Safari Park at 331. Even lower-ranking sites such as Egerton Road and Punjab University showed AQI levels near or above 280, underscoring how widespread the smog layer became.

Provincial averages showed similarly troubling conditions. The EPA's daily report placed Lahore at the top of its pollution list, followed by Gujranwala at 305 and Kasur at 288. Faisalabad, Sheikhupura, Narowal, Hafizabad and Khanewal also reported unhealthy air, with several districts crossing into the "very unhealthy" category. The overall provincial AQI stood at 211, reflecting a challenging day for millions of residents.

Experts attribute the worsening smog to a combination of meteorological and cross-border factors. Wind speeds fell to two miles per hour, slowing the dispersion of fine particulate matter and trapping pollutants near the surface. Cool temperatures and the formation of an inversion layer compressed the haze, especially during the night and early morning.