Overview
- Global monitors ranked Lahore the second most polluted city, with a city AQI around 455 and local hotspots reported as high as 855, while several other Punjab cities registered hazardous readings.
- Hospitals in Lahore and across Punjab reported sharp increases in respiratory and cardiac cases linked to the smog, with senior clinicians describing a health emergency impacting children and vulnerable patients most.
- Delhi-NCR entered the ‘severe’ category on Thursday with an average AQI near 409 as authorities activated GRAP Stage III, restricting non-essential construction and shifting primary classes to hybrid or closure.
- IITM’s Decision Support System estimated stubble burning contributed 22.47% of Delhi’s PM2.5 on Wednesday, surpassing transport, with projections of about 10.1% from farm fires and 19.3% from transport on Thursday.
- India’s Union Health Ministry issued an updated advisory directing states to set up chest clinics under NPCCHH, operate them at least two hours daily during peak months, digitise patient records via IHIP, register high-risk individuals and bolster supplies, training and surveillance.