Pakistan blames India’s Diwali fireworks for Lahore’s toxic air

Pakistan blamed poor air quality this week on pollution drifting ‌from neighbouring India, where firecrackers set off during the Hindu festival of Diwali over the weekend blanketed much of the north in toxic smog. The northern Pakistani city of Lahore topped Swiss group IQAir’s ranking of the world’s most polluted major cities for a second day on Tuesday, with an air quality index (AQI) of 263, categorised as “very unhealthy”.

The city’s ⁠concentration of PM2.5, harmful airborne particles small enough to penetrate deep into the lungs, was 37.2 times above the World Health Organization’s annual guideline, IQAir said. Pakistani Punjab’s Environment Protection Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb said pollutants had been carried into the region by light winds and air drifting from India in the aftermath of Diwali.

“However, air pollution is expected to gradually decrease from early afternoon as weather conditions improve and winds shift direction,” she said. IQAir ranked Delhi the world’s second-most polluted major city ‌on Tuesday, ⁠with an AQI of 188.