Pakistan air pollution: Lahore AQI over 1000, UNICEF warns 11 million kids in Punjab in danger |10 updates

Pakistan air pollution: IQAir's data showed that at 6 am on Tuesday, Lahore's AQI was 1045, followed by Delhi's at 329.

Pakistan AQI: The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has raised concerns about the health risks facing 11 million children in Pakistan's eastern Punjab province due to worsening air pollution, which experts say has effectively become a "fifth season" in recent years. Since last month, toxic smog has enveloped Lahore, Pakistan's cultural capital, along with 17 other districts in Punjab, news agency Associated Press reported.

Pedestrians walk along a road engulfed in thick smog in Lahore on November 11, 2024. Lahore, a city of 14 million people stuffed with factories on the border with India, regularly ranks among the world's most polluted cities, but it has hit record levels this month. (AFP)

Health authorities report that more than 40,000 people have sought treatment for respiratory issues.

Special smog counters to triage patients have been established at clinics across the province, with 900 people admitted to hospital in Lahore alone on Tuesday.

UNICEF's representative in Pakistan Abdullah Fadil, in a statement on Monday, urged the government to make urgent and greater efforts to reduce air pollution for the 11 million affected children under the age of 5 and others.

“Prior to these record-breaking levels of air pollution, about 12 per cent of deaths in children under 5 in Pakistan were due to air pollution," Abdullah Fadil said in the statement.

"The impact of this year's extraordinary smog will take time to assess, but we know that doubling and tripling the amount of pollution in the air will have devastating effects, particularly on children and pregnant women.”

Pakistan air pollution and restrictions in 10 points:

1. Lahore – a city of 14 million people stuffed with factories on the border with India – regularly ranks among the world's most polluted cities, but it has hit record levels this month.
2. The Punjab province has closed educational institutions and public spaces like parks and zoos until November 17 in places including Lahore, the world's most polluted city in terms of air quality, according to Swiss group IQAir's live ratings. Authorities have been urging people to avoid unnecessary travel.
3. At 6am on Tuesday, the AQI of Lahore was 1045, followed by Delhi at 329, the IQAir's data showed.
4. According to the Environmental Protection Department in Punjab, Multan remained the most polluted city on Monday, with air quality index readings of about 800. Anything over 300 is considered hazardous to health.
5. In Multan, the AQI level passed 2,000 last week – a staggering height never seen before by incredulous residents.
6. According to the international Air Quality Index Scale, an index value of 300 or higher results is "hazardous" to health and Pakistan has regularly tipped over 1,000 on the scale.
7. A mix of low-grade fuel emissions from factories and vehicles, exacerbated by agricultural stubble burning, blanket the city each winter, trapped by cooler temperatures and slow-moving winds.
8. The WHO says that air pollution can trigger strokes, heart disease, lung cancer and other respiratory diseases. It is particularly punishing for children and babies, and the elderly.
9. Though the government has ordered the mandatory wearing of face masks, that has been widely disregarded.
10. The government has also said it was looking into methods to induce artificial rainfall to combat the pollution.

(With inputs from AP, AFP, Reuters)