World’s Most Polluted City: It’s Not Delhi Or Mumbai, It’s Pakistan’s THIS City | World News

Islamabad: According to Swiss air quality monitor IQAir, Lahore has topped the global pollution charts with an Air Quality Index (AQI) of over 300 tagged as highly unhygienic and polluted air prevailing in various cities of Pakistan, local media reported on Wednesday.

Lahore ranked first among the world’s most polluted cities with an AQI of 353. Quetta remained Pakistan’s most polluted city with an AQI of 517 in the morning.

According to Pakistan-based ARY News, air quality is measured as unhealthy in Rahim Yar Khan, Gujranwala and Faisalabad, while extremely foggy weather conditions in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and southern Punjab plains cause reduced visibility on highways.

Many sections of the highway were closed to traffic due to low visibility.

For several days in 2024, Lahore was shrouded in smog, a mixture of smog and pollutants caused by low-grade diesel fumes and smoke from seasonal agricultural burns, as temperatures dropped with the cooler weather.

Air pollution levels in Lahore have risen to 80 times the normal hygienic level once approved by the World Health Organization (WHO).

With a Human Development Index (HDI) of 0.544 (ranked 168th globally) and a Climate Risk Index of 2026 ranked 15th, Pakistan faces socio-economic and environmental challenges that successive governments have struggled to address effectively, a report published in early November said.

These vulnerabilities are further exacerbated by increasingly heavy rainfall in catchment areas, accelerated siltation in large dams, reduced water storage capacity and increased flood risks.

Increasing temperatures affect agricultural productivity by causing heat and water stress, especially in arid and semi-arid regions.

Simultaneously, air pollution from transportation, industry and agriculture causes smog, which affects aviation, reduces visibility and causes respiratory diseases.

Abdul Waheed Bhutto, who has an extensive publishing record on renewable energy, climate change mitigation and sustainable resource management and has served on numerous national and international advisory and review committees, wrote in The Diplomat:

In a report in The Diplomat, Abdul Waheed Bhutto wrote: “As the country’s limited forest cover continues to decline, coastal ecosystems face saltwater intrusion in the Indus Delta, damaging mangroves, fisheries and agriculture. Rising sea levels and increased cyclonic activity further endanger coastal populations, while rising tensions over water sharing, public health crises and climate-induced migration underscore Pakistan’s deep vulnerability.”

The Indus Basin is facing acute stress due to overproduction and climate change; The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) ranked it as the world’s second most overstressed aquifer in 2015 and warned that continued groundwater depletion could worsen regional water shortages.

Pakistan’s major cities, including Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad, continue to experience persistent and dangerous smog.

Economic losses caused by extreme weather events further deepen the crisis in Pakistan.