LAHORE: Air pollution in Lahore surged to hazardous levels on Monday, with the Air Quality Index (AQI) reaching 535 and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) concentrations climbing to 343 micrograms per cubic metre, as several other cities across Punjab also recorded dangerously high pollution.
At 8 am, air quality monitoring platform IQAir recorded an AQI of 535 in Lahore, placing the city in the hazardous category. PM2.5 concentrations stood at 343µg/m³.
PM2.5 refers to tiny airborne particles that can penetrate deep into the lungs and enter the bloodstream, posing serious risks to human health.
Lahore’s AQI has crossed over 500+ today. This was near Jalo on Saturday.
Lahore right now feels like a proper gas chamber. https://t.co/Qhnbe5B76n— Rao (@CasualRao) November 2, 2026
Air quality had already deteriorated sharply during the early morning, with hourly readings also entering the hazardous range.
The pollution crisis extended well beyond Lahore. IQAir’s live ranking of Pakistani cities on Monday morning placed five Punjab cities among the country’s six most polluted urban centres.
Gujranwala topped the list with an AQI of 606, followed by Lahore at 509. Faisalabad and Multan both recorded 310, while Sialkot stood at 260. Peshawar ranked sixth with an AQI of 216.
Subsequent hourly updates showed Gujranwala’s AQI climbing to 675 and Lahore’s reaching 535, underlining the rapidly changing pollution conditions across the province.
Agricultural Fires
The worsening air quality coincided with a sharp increase in agricultural fire detections across Punjab.
An analysis published by environmental monitoring website HamariHawa, based on NASA satellite data, detected 13,241 fire spots in Pakistani Punjab between October 1 and 29.
Around 92 per cent of the detected fires in Pakistani Punjab were located on farmland and were likely linked to crop-residue burning.
The analysis found that 6,655 fire spots, accounting for roughly half of the monthly total, were detected during the final seven days of October. October 29 recorded the highest number of detections, with 1,327 fires.
Okara reported the highest number of fire spots at 2,144, followed by Gujranwala with 1,011 and Nankana Sahib with 1,003.
The findings point to extensive agricultural burning across the rice-growing belt surrounding Lahore. Smoke from these fires adds to pollution generated by vehicles, industrial emissions and other sources.
Weather conditions can make the situation worse. Weak winds and atmospheric inversions prevent pollutants from dispersing, trapping polluted air close to the ground and allowing concentrations to build up.
Weather Factor
Meanwhile, a new analysis by the Pakistan Air Quality Initiative (PAQI) has challenged the extent of improvement in Lahore’s air quality during October, despite provincial government claims that the city experienced its cleanest October in five years.
PAQI found that average PM2.5 concentrations in October 2026 fell by 27 per cent compared with the same month last year across 26 monitoring sites.
However, after adjusting for weather conditions, the estimated improvement narrowed to just four per cent.
The analysis attributed a substantial part of the decline to meteorological conditions, particularly a deeper nighttime atmospheric mixing layer, which allowed pollutants more space to disperse.
The remaining improvement reflected the combined effects of government measures, changes in agricultural burning and other pollution sources.
Despite the improvement, PM2.5 concentrations exceeded Pakistan’s prescribed daily limit on every day in October, according to PAQI.
Pollution Forecast
PAQI’s forecast, issued on November 1, projected PM2.5 concentrations to rise to 149µg/m³ by Wednesday, November 4 — around 49 per cent above October’s average.
The findings offer a more cautious assessment of the improvement claimed by the provincial government.
Punjab Senior Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb had shared data with Dawn in October showing that Lahore’s average US AQI (PM2.5) stood at 180.5 during October 2026, compared with 204.6 in 2025, 213 in 2024 and approximately 193 to 195 in 2022 and 2023.
Her figures showed that October 2026 was the only year in the five-year comparison in which Lahore did not record an AQI above 300. The highest reading for the month was 262, recorded on October 31.
However, PAQI’s assessment suggests that weather conditions played a significant role in the improvement, while pollution levels remained above the national health standard throughout October.
With November bringing a fresh deterioration in air quality, the latest readings and satellite fire detections highlight the continuing challenge of controlling crop-residue burning and other major sources of pollution across Punjab.
