The air quality in Lahore, a city of 14 million residents, has surpassed levels deemed "dangerous," leading the government to take emergency measures, including closing schools and advising citizens to remain indoors.

Primary schools in Lahore, Pakistan’s second-largest city, will close for a week due to extreme air pollution, as announced by the provincial government on Sunday.

For days, Lahore has been shrouded in a thick layer of smog, a result of traffic emissions, smoke from seasonal crop burning, and cold winter temperatures that trap pollutants in the air. The city, with a population of 14 million, topped the real-time list of the world’s most polluted cities on Sunday, based on data from Pakistani authorities and IQAir, a Swiss air quality monitoring group.

The air quality index (AQI) in Lahore, which tracks multiple pollutants, surged past 1,000, a level that the Punjab provincial government described as “unprecedented.” Typically, an AQI of 300 is already deemed “dangerous.”

“Don’t leave your homes,” Punjab’s senior minister Marriyum Aurangzeb advised at a news conference, emphasizing the risks posed by the smog, especially to children. “This smog is very harmful for children. Masks should be mandatory in schools. We are keeping an eye on the health of children in senior classes.”

In response to the crisis, the government mandated that 50% of office employees work from home starting Monday. Hospitals are also being equipped with smog counters to monitor the health impacts of the pollution. Special police units have been deployed to enforce emission checks at factories, identify vehicles with malfunctioning engines, and monitor crop residue burning.

Aurangzeb attributed some of the worsening air quality to pollution drifting in from neighboring India. “This issue cannot be solved without talking to India and without joint efforts on both sides of the border,” she stated.

Smog levels in the region frequently worsen as winter arrives, with cooler temperatures trapping pollution near the ground. The World Health Organization (WHO) warns that air pollution poses serious health risks, especially with prolonged exposure, which can increase the likelihood of strokes, heart disease, lung cancer, and respiratory illnesses.

Children are particularly vulnerable to toxic air because their lungs are still developing, and they breathe more quickly than adults, taking in more air relative to their body size. According to UNICEF, nearly 600 million children across South Asia are exposed to high levels of air pollution, making this a significant health concern in the region.