Islamabad: Lahore has been named the world’s most polluted city Monday, with an Air Quality Index (AQI) reported at 590, local media reported.
According to IQAir’s global ranking from 9 am to 10 am on Monday, Lahore was ranked as the most polluted city in the world, leading Pakistani daily Dawn reported.
The ranking showed Lahore’s pollution level to be more than three times that of the second-ranked city. IQAir’s historical air quality graph showed an hourly reading of 647 for Lahore during the same period.
Apart from Lahore, other cities of Pakistan’s Punjab province were also experiencing hazardous air quality. According to IQAir’s city wise ranking of Pakistan, the air quality was in hazardous category in Raiwind, Lahore, Faisalabad and Multan, Dawn reported.
In October, a report by the Pakistan Air Quality Initiative (PAQI) revealed that air pollution cuts life expectancy in Pakistan by an estimated 3.9 years and contributes to around 128,000 premature deaths each year. The report said that pollution imposes an economic burden of 6.5 per cent of Pakistan’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), while exposure to polluted air for a long time could reduce life expectancy in Lahore by up to seven years.
The report titled ‘Unveiling Pakistan’s Air Pollution: A National Landscape Report on Health Risks, Sources, and Solutions’ presents Pakistan’s first harmonised, multi-sector emissions inventory along with a multi-city analysis of air quality. The report examines pollution patterns in several cities of Pakistan, such as Karachi, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Lahore, and Peshawar. It identified the primary sources of emissions in each city and detailed measures that could reduce them by up to 50 per cent, Pakistan-based another daily The Express Tribune reported.
The assessment covers carbon dioxide, fine particulate matter (PM2.5), nitrogen oxides (NOx), and sulphur dioxide (SO2), detailing sector-wise analysis of emissions across the four urban airsheds, The Express Tribune reported.
The report said that Lahore’s annual average PM2.5 concentration is more than 110 micrograms per cubic metre, over 22 times the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) annual guideline of five micrograms per cubic metre. Exposure to these pollution levels for a long time could reduce life expectancy in the city by up to seven years, according to the report.
Transport has been identified as the largest source of primary PM2.5 emissions in Lahore, followed by industry at 28 per cent and brick kilns at 17 per cent. These sources contribute to Lahore’s particulate pollution, with winter weather conditions further aggravating the problem.
