LAHORE: Lahore was ranked the world’s most polluted major city on Wednesday morning as smog thickened over the city with the onset of colder weather.

In the past few years, air pollution has become one of the most pressing public health and environmental crises facing Pakistan. Various cities of the country, most notably Lahore, deal with smog, especially in the winter months. The phenomenon is attributed mainly to industrial emissions, vehicular pollution, stubble burning and air movement.

According to the live air quality ranking published by Swiss air quality monitoring platform IQAir, Lahore recorded an Air Quality Index (AQI) of 296 at 10am on October 28, placing it at the top of the list of the world’s major cities.

Cairo ranked second with an AQI of 289, followed by Delhi at 272. Tashkent stood fourth with an AQI of 186, while Karachi ranked fifth at 173, according to the ranking.

The readings placed Lahore and Cairo in the ‘very unhealthy’ category under the US AQI scale, while Delhi’s air quality was also in the same category.

An AQI reading of 296 indicates a high level of air pollution that can pose health risks, particularly for children, older people and those with respiratory or heart conditions.

The worsening air quality coincided with colder conditions in Lahore during the early morning, when smog reduced visibility and added to concerns over the city’s deteriorating air quality.

Residents were advised to limit prolonged outdoor exertion when pollution levels were high, particularly those with asthma and other respiratory conditions.

Environment Protection Agency (EPA) spokesperson Sajid Bashir told Dawn that the authorities were monitoring industries and had installed devices to record pollution levels.

He said changing weather conditions were contributing to smog, adding that measures were being taken to prevent stubble burning.

Easterly winds had been consistently pushing polluted air from India’s border regions into Lahore, worsening the smog situation across central Punjab, he said.

The government was procuring and installing 30 more modern fog cannons mounted on electric trucks to combat severe smog and air pollution, Bashir said.

Anti-smog guns were being deployed on a priority basis in areas where higher pollution readings were recorded, particularly at locations with elevated levels of PM10 (particulate matter), he added.

He said the machinery was being used to suppress dust on roads and in surrounding areas to limit its spread.

“Development work in Lahore and other cities of the province was also contributing to pollution,” he added.

Bashir said measures were being taken to combat smog, but the process would take time. Punjab Climate Watch was working in three shifts to monitor industries in Lahore, with teams inspecting violations, registering cases and imposing fines.

Last week, Lahore ranked as the world’s most polluted city, with its air quality classified as “hazardous”.

On Oct 2, Lahore also topped IQAir’s list of the world’s most polluted cities, with an AQI of 167, classified as “unhealthy”. At the time, CM Maryam said the government was making efforts to address environmental issues.

On Oct 1, a new analysis released by the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) ranked Lahore among cities whose ozone levels were “extremely poor”.

LAHORE: At least one individual was killed, while seven others were injured on Tuesday when the roof of an under-construction building collapsed near Multan’s Northern Bypass, Rescue 1122 said.

In a statement, the rescue service said the roof of an under-construction plaza had collapsed near the National College of Business Administration and Economics on Northern Bypass.

The agency said that so far, seven injured individuals had been rescued and shifted to Nishtar Hospital, adding that one person was killed in the collapse, whose body had also been shifted to the hospital.

It added that a Rescue 1122 team would remain at the site until the salvage operation was completed.

A spokesperson for Nishtar Hospital, citing hospital records, also confirmed that an individual had been brought dead.

A rescue official confirmed to Dawn that eight labourers were present on the site when the incident occurred. However, the presence of any other individual trapped under the debris could not be ruled out until the wreckage was removed and the site was cleared.

In an earlier statement, Rescue 1122 said its teams “reached the incident site within three minutes” of receiving information about the incident.

The statement said 10 vehicles had been actively engaged in the relief operations, comprising five ambulances, three rescue motorbikes, one rescue vehicle and one fire vehicle.

According to the Nishtar Hospital spokesperson, three persons suffered head injuries — whose nature and criticality were unknown — while the other three sustained minor injuries.

The spokesperson said doctors and paramedical staff had been placed on high alert in the emergency room, and the best medical facilities were being provided to the injured.

Building and roof collapses are common in Pakistan, often attributed to poor safety standards and the use of substandard construction materials.

A teacher and 30 students were killed when a school’s roof collapsed in Peshawar earlier this month.

In September, two men died in Pakpattan after the roof of their house collapsed during heavy rain and a windstorm.

On June 30, 14 children lost their lives when the roof of a private tuition centre collapsed in Lahore’s Kahna area.