LAHORE: Lahore was ranked the world’s most polluted major city on Thursday, with an Air Quality Index (AQI) of 419, as air pollution levels remained high across Punjab ahead of the peak smog season.

According to IQAir’s live global ranking for 10am to 11am on Oct 29, Lahore topped the list, followed by Cairo with an AQI of 274 and Delhi with 220. Karachi was ranked eighth, with an AQI of 165.

The Punjab government’s air quality monitoring dashboard also showed hazardous pollution levels in several cities.

Kasur topped the provincial list with an AQI of 348, followed by Lahore at 324, Faisalabad at 290, Kot Addu at 269 and Dera Ghazi Khan at 267.

Nankana Sahib recorded an AQI of 261, Hafizabad 250, Sahiwal 210, Sheikhupura 205, Jhang 203 and Rajanpur 201.

Multan and Gujranwala both recorded an AQI of 194, while Bhakkar registered 186 and Vehari 181.

The readings from the two monitoring platforms differed, reflecting their respective monitoring locations and reporting periods.

Both, however, indicated elevated pollution levels in Lahore and other parts of Punjab.

As of 1:00pm, Lahore ranked at number 5 on IQAir’s live global ranking with an AQI of 183. At the same time, the Punjab government’s live dashboard showed Khanewal as the most polluted city in the province with an AQI of 212, while Lahore’s index was at 173.

As pollution levels remained high, the Punjab government intensified enforcement against sources of emissions, including smoke-emitting vehicles, brick kilns, industrial units, plastic burning and construction dust.

The Punjab Safe Cities Authority (PSCA) said it was using artificial intelligence-powered cameras to identify smog-related violations across the province.

The authority urged motorists to avoid using vehicles that emit excessive smoke and called on the public to refrain from burning waste.

Residents can report violations by calling police emergency number 15.

The Environment Protection Agency (EPA) also intensified its pre-smog enforcement campaign, demolishing 197 non-compliant brick kilns, sealing 163 units and registering 162 first information reports (FIRs) during the month-long operation from Sept 28 to Oct 27.

Director General EPA Abdullah Nayyar Sheikh said the department was following a data-driven, zero-tolerance strategy to protect public health.

He said enforcement teams were using field inspections, surveillance and special day and night squads to identify violations and ensure compliance with environmental laws.

According to official figures, EPA teams conducted 11,580 inspections of brick kilns, issued 314 smog notices and imposed fines totalling Rs40.7 million.

The agency also inspected 6,650 industrial sites, demolished 22 non-compliant units, issued 333 notices, sealed 191 premises and registered 15 FIRs, collecting Rs28 million in fines.

Action against plastic burning included 6,064 inspections, 678 notices, the sealing of 152 premises and the confiscation of 45,100 kilogrammes of plastic. Fines of around Rs2 million were imposed.

In a separate exercise to enforce the installation of suction hoods at industrial facilities, officials inspected 4,204 sites. They reported that 1,863 units had installed the equipment, while 1,388 notices were issued and 333 non-compliant sites were sealed.

The department collected Rs2.0045 million in penalties.

The crackdown also targeted construction dust. EPA officers visited 397 union councils, issued 181 notices, sealed 20 locations and imposed Rs25,000 in fines.

Mist sprinklers were installed at 49 sites to suppress dust from construction work and exposed surfaces. In addition, 56 inspections of water-polluting activities resulted in 29 notices and the sealing of two units.

To curb agricultural smoke, the Punjab government deployed 67 Quick Response Units across major agricultural belts to detect and respond to incidents of crop-residue burning.

The teams use satellite-based fire detection, ground intelligence and field monitoring to identify fires, extinguish them and take action against those responsible.

The department has also deployed anti-smog guns at selected locations in Lahore, including major roads, high-traffic corridors, industrial areas and construction sites.

DG EPA Sheikh said the equipment was deployed based on ground conditions, AQI readings, particulate matter levels and prevailing wind patterns.

The equipment releases fine water droplets designed to bind with suspended dust particles and bring some of them to the ground.

However, the department said the deployment complemented enforcement measures targeting pollution sources and was not a substitute for controlling emissions at their source.

Drone surveillance and special night squads have also been incorporated into monitoring operations to identify suspected sources of pollution and follow up on violations outside routine inspection hours.

With winter approaching, the enforcement drive aims to reduce emissions before smog conditions worsen.

The agency said inspections, fines, the sealing of premises, surveillance and responses to agricultural fires would continue as part of its efforts to control pollution across the province.

LAHORE: At least five people were killed and 27 others injured when a passenger bus plunged into a drain in Punjab’s Hafizabad district on Thursday, according to Rescue 1122.

Rescue services said the mishap occurred in the Fatehke area of Pindi Bhattian tehsil. The bus was reportedly on its way from Raiwind to Chiniot.

According to rescue officials, overspeeding caused the driver to lose control of the vehicle. Soon after the accident, teams from Rescue 1122 reached the site and launched rescue operations.

The injured were provided with first aid at the scene while 20 of them were also taken to hospital, Rescue 1122 said.

With the assistance of the local government, a crane was used to lift the bus, after which the bodies of five victims were recovered from beneath the vehicle.

Rescue teams continued their search operation amid fears that more passengers might be trapped under the wreckage.

Five rescue vehicles participated in the operation, Rescue 1122 said.

Last week, 12 passengers were killed and around two dozen injured when a minibus and a passenger coach collided head-on near Zero Point in Uthal on the Quetta-Karachi Highway in Balochistan.

The accident occurred two days after 10 people were killed and 44 others injured when a passenger bus overturned after hitting a road divider in Rajanpur district’s Rojhan tehsil on the Indus Highway on Wednesday.

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.