LAHORE: The environmental protection authorities efforts to reduce air pollution in the provincial metropolis have been hindered by inadequate infrastructure for real-time air quality monitoring in Lahore.
The air pollution has reached unprecedented levels in Lahore this season and on Saturday and Sunday, the city’s Air Quality Index (AQI) surged to 1,800, placing Lahore as the world’s most polluted city.
According to the Environment Protection Department (EPD), only three official air quality monitors are operational in the city, while private air quality data often shows inconsistencies.
The EPD’s current AQI data comes from just three monitors: one owned by the US Consulate, another by Punjab University, and a third at Town Hall, the sole EPD-owned monitor.
Further complicating the picture, EPD’s mobile AQI monitoring van is out of order, and data from the department’s in-office monitor is unavailable to the public.
According the data, Lahore hosts a total of 17 AQI monitors, only three of which belong to government entities, with the remaining 14 operated by private institutions.
Most of these private monitors are neither government-certified nor installed according to official protocols, often resulting in inaccurate data.
Meanwhile, EPD Director-General Imran Hamid Sheikh admitted, stating that “EPD only has three air quality monitors in Lahore, with plans to install five more.” He added, “Most private monitors provide unreliable data, yet some foreign companies use this data on their websites.”
The EPD DG disclosed that a committee has been formed to assess the accuracy and placement of private monitors across Lahore.
