Punjab | Pakistan

LAHORE: Punjab’s air quality continued to deteriorate on Saturday with its capital being ranked as the most polluted city of the world for the fourth consecutive day with thick smog blanketing major areas, reducing visibility and posing serious health risks for residents. According to the data from IQAir, an air quality monitoring platform, Lahore’s Air Quality Index (AQI) soared to a staggering ‘hazardous’ level of 577 in the early hours of the day, once again ranking it as one of the most polluted cities in the world. The provincial capital was ranked second after improvement in its air quality on the global pollution index in the evening. The AQI of other stations in Lahore at 8pm were recorded at 448 at Phase 8 DHA, 342 at Gurumangat Road and AC Office Shalimar Complex Wahga at 305. Other major cities in Punjab also reported hazardous conditions. In Gujranwala, particulate matter levels soared to 632, far exceeding safe limits. Similarly, Sialkot recorded an AQI of 462, indicating extremely poor air quali...

Punjab remained engulfed in dense, toxic smog on Saturday, with Lahore continuing to face dangerously high air pollution levels and holding its position as the world’s second most polluted city.

Air pollution across Punjab has surged to life-threatening levels, with Lahore once again emerging as one of the most polluted cities in the world.

LAHORE - Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif on Thursday met Director General of the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) Sang-Hyup Kim on the sidelines of the COP-30 Conference in Belem, marking a major step toward enhanced cooperation between Punjab and the international climate body.

LAHORE: The Punjab government has extended the ban on protests, rallies, sit-ins, and public gatherings for the fourth consecutive time for a week owing to perpetual concerns over terrorism and public order and threat perceptions. As the third order term expired on Saturday, the Punjab home department on Sunday yet again notified imposition of Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898, across the province for another seven days. The Punjab government had initially imposed the ban on Oct 8 for 10 days and then notified extensions on Oct 18, Oct 25, Nov 2, and eventually on Nov 9 for one week ban each. The home department has extended the ban on rallies, gatherings, carrying of arms, use of loudspeakers and spreading of provocative material. The home department in its order says review of the latest reports and threat assessments shared by law enforcement and intelligence agencies explains the threat perception to public peace, tranquillity and law and order has not abated. Extending the ban for the f...

The smog crisis in Punjab continues to worsen, with Lahore’s air quality reaching dangerously high pollution levels once again.

Forests across Punjab have suffered massive losses from recurring wildfires, with more than 6,000 acres reduced to ashes over the past three years.

The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Friday ordered the Punjab government to launch a rigorous campaign against smoke-emitting vehicles in the province in an effort to curb smog and air pollution. “Whenever you go out, you see dozens of smoke-emitting vehicles on the roads,” Justice Shahid Karim said while hearing a set of petitions against smog and environmental pollution. Justice Karim instructed authorities to run the campaign for at least two to three weeks and urged strict implementation. He also observed that vehicles travelling from Lahore to Karachi, in particular, were causing pollution. Officials from the Environment Protection Agency (EPA), the Parks and Horticultural Authority (PHA) and other departments also appeared before the court at today’s hearing. However, the judge expressed his displeasure over the absence of a director-level officer from the EPA, as instructed at the previous hearing. Taking exception to pollution caused by vehicles, Justice Karim directed the EPA to display banners across Lah...

Ticket holders and office bearers of the Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) from central Punjab and Lahore on Tuesday announced that they were severing ties with the now-banned organisation, stating that they were “standing with the state”. On Friday, all election ticket holders of the TLP from south Punjab announced that they had left the party, accusing it of pursuing an anti-state agenda that “aligns with the country’s enemies”. In a press conference at the Lahore Press Club today, multiple TLP ticket holders and office bearers announced their decision to step away from the religiopolitical group, with lawyer Usman Khizr Mangat saying that one can engage in politics within the state, but not against it. “Violence and mobs cannot create an impact by attacking the state,” he said. “Pakistan saw how these people carried out attacks. The government tried to start a dialogue, but the demands laid out were not accepted. “The state is like a mother, it tried to negotiate for six, seven days constantly with these pe...

LAHORE - The government of Punjab has extended the enforcement of Section 144 across the province for another seven days, until November 8 (Saturday), in view of security concerns and to maintain public order.

Punjab’s Home Department has extended Section 144 across the province until November 8, banning protests, rallies, sit-ins, and public gatherings due to concerns over terrorism and public order, a statement issued on Sunday said. Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code is a legal provision that empowers district administrations to prohibit an assembly of four or more people in an area for a limited period. “In view of security threats, public processions and sit-ins can be soft targets for terrorists,” the home department said in its statement. “Malignant elements can take advantage of public protests and carry out anti-state activities to fulfil their nefarious intentions.” It added that a complete ban has been imposed on the display of all types of weapons across Punjab. “There is also a complete ban on the use of loudspeakers under Section 144,” it said. Furthermore, as per the statement, there is a complete ban on the publication and distribution of inflammatory, hateful or sectarian material. The depa...

Punjab’s major cities were blanketed in dense smog on Saturday morning, with air quality deteriorating to dangerously high levels across the province.

Sheikhupura has become the first city in Punjab to introduce a mobile police station, an innovative step designed to deliver policing and administrative services directly to citizens’ doorsteps.

Air pollution across Punjab has reached alarming levels, with Faisalabad emerging as the most polluted city in the province on Friday.

• Despite Imran’s instructions not to air dirty laundry in public, Salman Akram Raja and Aliya Hamza engage in ‘Twitter war’ over decision to remove party’s central Punjab president and secretary • Dispute between senior lawyers over list of who gets to meet Imran in Adiala leaves many within the party red-faced LAHORE: Mere weeks after incarcerated founder Imr­an Khan warned party leaders against airing their dirty laundry in public, ano­ther tiff — this time over the leadership of PTI in central Punjab — has erupted over the social media platform X, in full public view. In a telling series of tweets on Thursday, Secretary Gene­ral Salman Akram Raja railed against those who were “conspiring against him”, and recalled that Mr Khan had personally tasked him with conveying messages from Adiala jail. Although he didn’t explain the issue at hand, a cursory glance at his earlier tweets and messages posted by other PTI leaders laid bare the dispute. The controversy centres around the ouster of PTI Cen­tral Punjab P...

The provincial capital once again earned the dubious distinction of being the world’s most polluted city on Thursday, as a dense blanket of toxic smog engulfed large parts of Punjab, severely affecting air quality and visibility.

Lahore once again ranked as the world’s most polluted city, recording an alarming Air Quality Index (AQI) of 308, as smog continued to blanket Punjab and other parts of the country.

Polluted winds drifting from India continue to smother Punjab’s major cities, propelling Lahore, Faisalabad, and Gujranwala to the top of global air pollution charts.

Punjab continued to face severe smog conditions on Sunday as Gujranwala was recorded as the most polluted city in the province with an alarming Air Quality Index (AQI) of 562, ARY News reported.

• KP says ‘ban’ on inter-provincial movement of commodity violates Article 151(1) • Warns of shortages, risks to food security • Sindh accuses Punjab of halting supply of wheat seed; seeks PM’s intervention PESHAWAR / KARACHI: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government on Thursday asked Punjab to withdraw restrictions on the inter-provincial movement of wheat and flour, warning that the curbs are disrupting supply chains, increasing prices and threatening food security in the province. Meanwhile, the PPP leadership in Sindh also lashed out at the Punjab government, accusing it of restricting the supply of wheat seed. In a letter to his Punjab counterpart, KP’s food secretary said that lifting the ban was critical to res­t­oring a smooth supply chain, stabilising market prices, and safeguarding his province’s food security. The letter said KP, a wheat-deficient province, depends on inter-provincial supplies from Punjab to meet its requirements — roughly 14,500 tonnes per day. “The prevailing restrictions have severely ...