Lahore, November 10,2026: Lahore has topped the global ranking of the world’s most polluted major cities, recording an Air Quality Index (AQI) of 240, as toxic smog continues to blanket the provincial capital, according to international air quality monitoring platform IQAir.
The city’s air quality fell within the “very unhealthy” category, while its concentration of PM2.5 — fine particulate matter capable of penetrating deep into the lungs — was recorded at 33 times the World Health Organisation’s annual guideline, IQAir reported.
The monitoring platform also recorded an AQI of 283 in Faisalabad, 245 in Peshawar and 228 in Gujranwala, highlighting deteriorating air quality across several major Pakistani cities.
Punjab authorities attributed the poor air quality this week partly to pollution drifting across the border from India, where firecrackers set off during the Hindu festival of Diwali over the weekend contributed to toxic smog across northern regions.
Punjab Environment Protection Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb said light winds had carried pollutants into the province from India following Diwali celebrations.
She added that air pollution was expected to gradually decline from early afternoon as weather conditions improved and winds changed direction.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
IQAir ranked Delhi as the world’s second-most polluted major city on Tuesday, with an AQI of 188. Indian government data showed that firecrackers accounted for nearly 55 per cent of the PM2.5 concentration in the Indian capital a day earlier.
Vehicle emissions, construction dust and smoke from crop-waste burning are also major contributors to winter air pollution on both sides of the border.
The two countries have previously exchanged claims over the cross-border movement of pollution. In 2024, Pakistan attributed its hazardous air quality partly to crop-waste burning in Indian Punjab. Indian meteorological officials, however, said wind patterns at the time indicated that air was moving from Pakistan towards India.
This month, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party also blamed crop-waste burning in Indian Punjab, governed by a regional opposition party, for Delhi’s deteriorating air quality.
Local media reported a sevenfold increase in farm fires in the state on Sunday, when Diwali was celebrated. The Punjab state government, however, maintains that incidents of crop-waste burning have declined compared with previous years.
