Pakistan has declared a health emergency as Lahore's air quality hits alarming levels, affecting millions with respiratory issues. Authorities have implemented urgent measures, including school closures,

With smog intensity escalating in Lahore at the end of October, affecting its 13 million residents, the Punjab government imposed a “green lockdown” and set up a “smog war room.”

A Pakistani province declared a health emergency Friday due to smog and imposed a shutdown in two major cities. Smog has choked Punjab for weeks, sickening nearly 2 million people and shrouding vast swathes of the province in a toxic haze.

Pakistan's Punjab declared a health emergency due to toxic smog on Friday, banning construction, shutting schools for another week and moving universities online, with a three-day lockdown possible, the province's senior minister said on Friday.

The absence of a top provincial politician at the time the country is battling an air emergency involving toxic smog has sparked a debate in Pakistan. Authorities in Punjab province announced a health emergency and said they are mulling a three-day lockdown as the air crisis ahead of winter has trapped dust,