The provincial metropolis ranked on top of the world’s top ten most polluted cities as average AQI reached 433 here on Sunday.
The city witnessed a hazy and partly cloudy weather all day while the environmentalists termed the AQI as hazardous while PM2.5 concentration was 58.3 times the World Health Organization annual PM2.5 guideline value.
The most polluted city localities included DHA Phase VI (569), Wahdat Colony (566), Barki Road (462), Cantonment (456), B Block, Phase 5, DHA (453), Askari X (318), Allama Iqbal Town (299), Liberty (275), Model Town (235) and Bedian Road (206).
Motorway M11 closed due to fog
Lahore-Sialkot Motorway M-11 has been closed due to intense fog. According to the Motorway spokesperson, the Lahore-Sialkot Motorway was closed due to fog. The spokesperson said that citizens should prefer to travel during daylight hours.
Motorways are closed for the safety of the public and safe travel.
He said that road users should avoid unnecessary travel. Citizens should use fog lights in their vehicles while traveling. Avoid high speed and keep a proper distance from the vehicle in front.
Cold and dry weather continued in Lahore on Sunday and the same conditions are likely to prevail on Monday.
MET officials said continental air was prevailing over most parts of the country while a westerly wave was likely to approach western parts of the country from 29th December (night).
They predicted that cold and dry weather was expected over most parts of the country while partly cloudy to cloudy was likely in upper parts. However, Cloudy weather with rain wind-thunderstorm was also likely in Northern/Western Balochistan. Moderate to dense fog (in patches) may develop over plain areas of Punjab and upper Sindh during morning /night.
They further said that rain may also occurred in Lahore during the next 24 hours due to which the temperature will drop. Sunday’s minimum temperature was 7°C while the maximum was 19°C.
Due to dense fog, motorways were closed to traffic from various places as visibility was reduced. Due to fog, entry of vehicles was closed on M2 from Lahore to Hiran Minar, M3 was closed from Faizpur to Jaranwala, M4 from Khanewal to Multan and from Faisalabad to Abdul Hakeem was also closed for traffic while Lahore-Sialkot Motorway M11 was also closed due to fog.
A spokesperson for the Motorway Police said that the purpose of the closure of motorways was to protect the lives and property of the public and citizens should prefer to travel during daylight hours and avoid unnecessary travel.