The air quality index in Lahore, Pakistan’s second city smothered by pollution, fell below the threshold considered “dangerous” for humans on Sunday, for the first time in two weeks.
The AQI index rose on average over the day to 243. However, the air is considered “bad” from 180 and “dangerous” for humans above 300, according to this index.
On November 4, this index stood at 289 in the Indian border city of 14 million inhabitants and ten days later it reached a historic peak at 1110.
On Sunday, with an index at 243, the concentration of polluting microparticles PM2.5 in the air of the Punjab capital was still more than ten times that deemed acceptable by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Punjab, where more than half of Pakistan’s 240 million people live, has already announced that it will close schools in its main cities until November 24.
He also banned all outdoor sports activities in schools until January, banned polluting tuk-touks, barbecues and construction sites in central Lahore, closed public spaces and distributed thousands of fines to polluting factories.
All these measures are supposed to combat smog, a mixture of fog and polluting emissions caused by low-end diesel fumes, fumes from seasonal agricultural burning and winter chill.
Prolonged exposure to this smog can cause strokes, heart disease, lung cancer and respiratory illnesses, according to the WHO. Particularly among children, nearly 600 million of whom are exposed to high pollution in South Asia, according to Unicef.
According to a study by the American University of Chicago, high pollution has already reduced life expectancy in Lahore by 7.5 years.
