LAHORE: The smog levels in the provincial capital have surged again following a three-day smart lockdown, with the air quality index (AQI) reaching a recorded high of 414 on Wednesday morning. Earlier, when the caretaker Punjab government initiated a bold smart lockdown in 10 districts, the smog, a combination of smoke and fog, had significantly decreased.
However, it has since intensified, with the AQI hitting 517 in Lahore’s cantonment area, and 477 at Amir Town and The Mall on Wednesday morning.
Sources revealed that the Punjab government’s initiative to induce artificial rain as a measure to curtail pollution in Lahore has faced a setback, delaying the plan by four to six weeks. Technical obstacles and underperformance by project experts were cited as the primary reasons for the delay, with the unavailability of aircraft identified as a major contributing factor.
Conversely, the Lahore High Court had issued an order to halt commercial activities by 10 pm in a bid to mitigate smog. Notably, smog, a form of air pollution impairing visibility, stems from various sources including the burning of crop residue by farmers in Pakistan and India. Additionally, it is exacerbated in urban areas by vehicle and industrial emissions.
