Lahore’s smog crisis deepened on Wednesday as the city’s air quality index soared to 722 in Allama Iqbal Town, more than double the hazardous threshold, while the Punjab government sent water trucks and mist guns onto the streets in a new clean-up drive.
With still, damp autumn air sealing the city under a lid of grey haze, officials warned the worst weeks of the season are still ahead — and no school closure has been ordered yet.
One Neighbourhood, 722 — Twice the Hazard Line
Lahore’s overall air quality index reached 362 on Wednesday morning, but the worst readings came from Allama Iqbal Town, which recorded 722. Barki Road stood at 455 and Model Town at 362, while DHA Phase V recorded 282 and Bedian Road 264.
Any reading above 300 is classed as hazardous, which means the most polluted pockets of the city were more than twice that limit. The figures continue a run that began at the start of the month: on Tuesday, IQAir put Lahore at 447 in the early morning, and private monitors recorded 902 in Iqbal Town and 698 in Paragon City.
Why the Air Turned So Bad
The immediate cause is the weather. Abdullah Nayyar Sheikh, director general of Punjab’s Environment Protection Department, told Reuters that falling temperatures since early November had created a temperature inversion, in which a layer of warmer air sits above colder air at ground level and traps smoke and dust.
Wind speeds have been extremely low for days. At 5am on Wednesday, Lahore’s wind speed was just 0.3 metres per second — close to dead calm — with humidity at 86 per cent and a temperature of 20 degrees Celsius. The thick haze hid landmarks including the Badshahi Mosque and Minar-e-Pakistan.
Hospitals Fill Up as Residents Fall Ill
Hospitals are seeing long queues of patients with flu-like symptoms and eye infections, and the health department has advised asthma patients and pregnant women to stay indoors where possible and wear masks.
“People are falling ill, suffering from throat problems and breathing difficulties,” resident Mohammad Ali told Reuters on Tuesday, urging the government to take the problem more seriously.
Doctors and the environment department advise children, older people and anyone with asthma or heart disease to stay indoors, limit time outside and avoid exercising outdoors. Anyone going out should wear a well-fitted N95 or KN95 mask, and windows should be kept shut overnight and in the early morning, when pollution peaks.
Chamkta Lahore: Road Washers Take to the Streets
The province’s most visible response this week is Chamkta Lahore — Shining Lahore — a cleanliness and dust-suppression campaign launched by Local Government Minister Zeeshan Rafique at Liberty Chowk on Tuesday.
It deploys 16 road-washing machines, 46 rickshaw-mounted footpath washers and 10 rickshaw-mounted mist guns across 100 major roads and markets, with a target of washing 100 kilometres of road a day.
Rafique said smog in November was noticeably lower than two years ago, crediting measures introduced since then. In November 2024, readings at some Lahore monitors exceeded 1,000 and the government shut schools and ordered lockdowns in several cities — but this week’s levels remain several times the hazardous threshold.
No School Closure Yet — and Worse May Be Coming
As of Wednesday morning, no smog-related closure of schools or offices had been ordered. Such a step requires an order from the Environment Protection Department followed by a notification from the School Education Department. Schools were told last month to halt outdoor activities when readings are high.
Relief is not in the forecast. The National Disaster Management Authority’s seasonal outlook expects smog risk to rise from mid-November into December, when nights grow colder and inversions grow stronger, and no rain system was forecast for the plains this week.
Lahore was not alone: Nankana Sahib hit the official dashboard’s 500 ceiling on Wednesday morning, with Kot Addu, Vehari, Kasur and Rajanpur all above 400, and Bahawalnagar reported at 606. Smoke sources can be reported through the Green Punjab app or the environment department helpline, 1373.
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