LAHORE: Pakistan is battling severe air pollution, with the air quality in three major cities dropping into the hazardous category on Sunday.
According to the global pollution monitoring website IQAir, the Air Quality Index (AQI) in Lahore was recorded at 688, making it the world’s most polluted city.
Multan followed with an AQI of 527, and Peshawar recorded 475, ranking as the second and third most polluted cities, respectively.
India’s city Delhi AQI stands third with AQI 276.
The majority of Pakistan’s cities—Karachi, Rawalpindi, Multan, Faisalabad, Peshawar, Lahore, Abbottabad, Gujranwala and capital Islamabad—exceeded the World Health Organization’s air quality guidelines, according to a report by IQAir, which tracks air quality worldwide.
Pakistan’s air pollution has contributed to the country being ranked as the second most polluted in the world, with an annual PM2.5 average of AQI 160, more than 14.7 times the WHO’s recommended guidelines.
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