The rate of fine particles PM2.5, the most dangerous, was on Wednesday morning in Lahore 348 micrograms per cubic meter of air (μg / m3), according to the specialized network AirVisual, or 23 times the level recommended by the World Organization of Health (WHO).
In recent years, smog has reached worrying levels as early as October in Pakistan.
As in neighboring India, the drop in temperatures accompanied by weak winds leaves pollution on the ground, resulting from agricultural burns and industrial or automobile emissions, generating respiratory and cardiac problems.
Lahore, Pakistan's second largest city with more than 11 million inhabitants, and capital of the Punjab region (East) near the border with India, is regularly among the most polluted in the world.
According to Air Visual, Pakistan was in 2020 the second country in the world for its air pollution - behind Bangladesh but ahead of India - and Lahore the 18th most polluted city.
The Pakistani people have started to realize the situation.
PakistanAirQuality (PAQ), a citizens' initiative to address the lack of official data in the country, was launched in 2016.
Pollution envelops Lahore in Pakistan, November 16, 2021 Arif ALI AFP
Low-cost purifiers have been manufactured, various initiatives taken, and legal actions against the administration initiated.
But authorities were slow to respond, accusing India of causing smog or disputing pollution figures.
"We are poor, we cannot even afford to pay the doctor," said Ikram Ahmed, a trader.
"You can only beg (the authorities) to control the pollution. I am not an educated person, but I have read that Lahore has the worst air quality outside of New Delhi. If it continues like this, we will die." , he predicted.
"Before, I used to go (walk) with my children, but now I don't let them go out with me anymore," said Muhammad Saeed.
"There are factories and small industries that work here. Either we have to put them elsewhere and compensate them, or give them more modern technology, so that we can get rid of this smog," he added. .
© 2021 AFP