LAHORE: As a thick blanket of smog continued to suffocate several cities in Pakistan’s Punjab, the National Highways and Motorways Police shut various sections of motorways in the province.
The affected routes include Motorway M2 (Lahore to Bhera), M3 (Lahore to Darkhana), and M4 (Multan to Pindi Bhattian), which were shut down due to heavy fog and smog.
Moreover, Motorway M5 (Multan to Sukkur) and the Lahore-Sialkot Motorway were also closed to traffic.
According to a spokesperson for the Motorways Police, the dense smog has spread from Punjab to parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Multan has ranked as the most polluted city in Pakistan, followed by Lahore in second place, and Peshawar in third.
The heavy smog and fog have also severely impacted air travel, with Multan’s flight operations being disrupted.
Six flights to Multan were canceled due to extremely low visibility, and 34 flights across the country were delayed due to the poor conditions and operational issues.
Flights from Muscat and Jeddah that were headed to Multan had to land in Islamabad and Lahore, respectively, while a flight from Muscat to Lahore landed in Sialkot.
Several domestic and international flights were affected, with delays and cancellations for flights between Multan, Karachi, Jeddah, Riyadh, and other destinations. Additionally, flights from Lahore to Kuala Lumpur, Dubai, Istanbul, and other cities, as well as flights from Islamabad, faced significant delays.
Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) also reported a four-hour delay for its Karachi-to-Lahore flight due to the smog-induced visibility issues.
