Pakistan's Punjab government may impose Corona epidemic-like restrictions in the provincial capital Lahore to control the worsening smog situation. This information was given in local media reports on Tuesday.

  

Geo News, quoting sources, reported that authorities may announce a complete lockdown on Wednesday, when all schools, markets and factories will remain closed. The city commissioner said officials will also announce a work from home policy for two months to tackle smog in the Lahore division. The decision was taken after a meeting with traders to discuss the proposal to keep the markets closed on Wednesday.

Commissioner Muhammad Ali Randhawa said, if traders wish, they can open the market on Sunday. The report said that under the new policy, government departments will work with 50 percent employees on Wednesday. Snap-checking on weekends (Saturday and Sunday) has also been advised.

The report also said that the administration has been advised to impose heavy fines on factories violating the law and close them down in case of persistent disregard for the instructions. The highest level of haze was recorded in the first three days of the week (Monday to Wednesday), the report said.

Meanwhile, IQ Air, a Swiss air quality technology company, said Lahore ranked first among 109 cities in the world with the worst air quality. The air quality index (AQI) was recorded at 175 in the provincial capital on Monday. Simultaneous construction of various infrastructure development projects, traffic issues, operation of industries and other factors are considered to be the cause of massive pollution in Lahore.

IQAir measures air quality levels based on the concentration of lung-damaging air particles known as PM 2.5. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends a maximum concentration of PM 2.5 of five micrograms per cubic metre.