Pakistan closes primary schools in Lahore due to record pollution

Government authorities announced Sunday that Pakistan’s second city, Lahore, would close primary schools for a week amid record pollution to avoid exposing millions of children to smog several times levels considered dangerous.

For several days, the city of 14 million inhabitants has been enveloped in smog – a mixture of fog and pollutants caused by exhaust fumes from low-quality diesel engines, smoke generated during seasonal agricultural combustion and winter cold.

According to IQAir data, the air quality index, which measures a range of pollutants, exceeded 1,000 on Saturday, well above the level of 300 considered “hazardous”. The Punjab government also recorded a high of over 1,000 on Sunday, which it termed “unprecedented”.

“The weather forecast for the next six days shows that the wind pattern will remain the same. Therefore, we are closing all government and private primary schools in Lahore for a week,” said Jahangir Anwar, a senior environmental official in Lahore.

“All classes” for children up to 10 years of age, “public, private and special education… will be closed for a week” from Monday to Saturday, reads the local government’s decision.

The decision added that the situation would be reassessed next Saturday to determine whether to extend the school closure.