Overview
- Punjab’s new forecasting system projects an average AQI around 170 on Oct. 1, with levels near 120–145 midday rising to roughly 140–165 by late evening.
- Lahore is expected to enter the unhealthy range, with PM2.5 cited as several times above WHO guidelines and peaks typically occurring in the morning and evening under light winds and temperature inversions.
- The Environmental Protection Department has begun daily air-quality bulletins and a province-wide operation that includes vehicle checks at Lahore entry points and the mobilisation of the Environmental Protection Force.
- Authorities report 41 monitoring stations are currently live, with plans to expand to 100 and to integrate real-time data with international modeling for earlier smog alerts.
- Crackdowns target stubble burning and high-emission sources, with actions against kilns and industries, demolition of pyrolysis plants, hospital reports of rising respiratory cases, and cautions that conditions could reach very unhealthy or worse later this season.