Overview
- Lahore was ranked the world’s most polluted major city by IQAir, with hazardous conditions reported across the metropolis and Delhi and Karachi following on the global list.
- Local monitors in Lahore showed extreme station-level spikes, including an AQI reading of 675 at Lower Mall and multiple sites above 500, far beyond health-safe thresholds.
- Punjab officials said nine departments are executing anti-smog operations using drone surveillance of brick kilns, anti-smog guns, and a new Smog Monitoring and Control Centre, and they denied reports of early school vacations.
- CPCB data showed Delhi’s overall AQI in the ‘poor’ band around 257–261 on Saturday morning, even as Anand Vihar hit ‘severe’ levels above 410; GRAP Stage II remains in force and water sprinklers were deployed.
- Analyses and official data attribute Delhi’s faster post-Diwali improvement to fewer stubble-burning incidents and favorable winds, while the Early Warning System forecasts a possible rise in AQI toward the ‘very poor’ range on Sunday and officials prepare for a conditional cloud-seeding trial on October 29.