Daily Dawn Staff Reporter + Dawn TV Report
Pakistan ranked the third most polluted country in 2024 — when it faced a record smog season — while Chad topped the list, according to an annual report published by Swiss air technology company IQAir on Tuesday.
The country last year witnessed unprecedented smog levels, especially in Punjab where the situation was declared a “calamity” and around two million people had to seek treatment for resulting health issues. The government had taken various steps to combat pollution, including imposing lockdowns and closing schools.
According to IQAir’s 2024 World Air Quality Report, Chad was the most polluted country overall, followed by Bangladesh, Pakistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and India in fifth place.
For Pakistan, the average concentration of particles less than 2.5 microns in diameter (PM2.5) for Pakistan was 73.7 micrograms per cubic metre (μg/m³) — nearly 15 times higher than the safe levels set by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Interestingly, despite the record smog, Pakistan’s average pollution last year remained the same as in 2023.
In the Central and South Asia region, Pakistan ranked second — just behind Bangladesh — with Lahore, Multan, Peshawar and Sialkot among the 15 most polluted cities in the region.
“Pakistan faces persistently high levels of pollution from various sources, including biomass burning, industrial activities, vehicular emissions, brick kilns, and construction dust,” the report noted.
Compared to 2023, Peshawar, Islamabad, Rawalpindi and Lahore witnessed a spike in their annual average readings while Faisalabad saw negligible rise.
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