Rain brings Lahore smog relief as AQI falls to 111
A Lahore street under thick haze on a foggy morning. (File photo)
LAHORE: Light rain and strong winds on Thursday night brought Lahore some relief from days of suffocating smog, pushing the city’s average Air Quality Index (AQI) down to 111 — a day after it had stood at 394 in the evening, when Lahore ranked as the world’s most polluted city.
According to the Meteorological Department, winds blowing since Thursday evening and light rain in different areas helped clear the air. Lahore stayed cloudy through Friday, with chances of light drizzle at scattered places. The maximum temperature was expected to reach 29 degrees Celsius and the minimum 17, with humidity recorded at 70 per cent.
The day before
Between 5pm and 6pm on Thursday, Lahore’s AQI was 394, followed by Delhi at 218, according to IQAir’s live ranking. An Environment Protection Agency review of November 1–10 put Lahore’s average AQI at 334 — 19 per cent higher than the 280 recorded in the same period last year. The daily reading had fallen from 422 on November 2 to 272 on November 7, only to climb back to 364 on November 9. Lahore received no rainfall at all between November 1 and 10, while easterly winds carried polluted air in from Indian Punjab.
Bahawalpur still hazardous
The improvement did not extend across Punjab. In Bahawalpur, the AQI reached 520 — deep into hazardous territory. A later update on Friday put Lahore’s AQI at 115, placing the city 15th in the global ranking, while Delhi, at 334, took over as the world’s most polluted city.
Health experts hopeful, NDMA warns of more rain
Health experts hope the rain will ease the respiratory problems residents have endured through the long smog spell, The Nation reported. Punjab Senior Minister Maryam Aurangzeb said there had been no coordinated system to control pollution sources in 2024, and a permanent, science-based system had since been established under the chief minister. The improvement, she said, could not be credited to the weather alone — action against industrial units, brick kilns, vehicles and waste burning had also played a part. The National Disaster Management Authority has warned of more heavy rain, gusty winds and snowfall in the upper parts of the country, and of fog and smog persisting overnight in Narowal, Sialkot, Gujranwala, Lahore, Khanewal, Faisalabad, Multan, Kot Addu and Bahawalpur. The Meteorological Department has forecast further rain and snowfall over the next 24 hours.
