Lahore remains enveloped in thick smog, retaining the second spot in the global pollution rankings with a poor air quality that poses serious risks to the health of residents. The city's

Pakistan ’s smog situation has gone from bad to worse as air pollution rose to a record in Lahore. Sensors tracked by the Swiss monitor IQAir recorded an air quality index of 1,300 in the country’s second-largest city at 5 p.m. local time, the highest this year and well beyond a level of 50 that is deemed safe.

The crisis has prompted a flurry of responses from local authorities, as the country grapples with its most severe air pollution event in years. According to several Pakistani media reports the Punjab Provincial Disaster Management Authority had declared smog a “calamity” and instituted emergency measures.

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.”

Lahore recorded the worst case of air pollution in the world, with the AQI nearing 1600 on Friday. Pakistan Air pollution: As several states in northern India continue to battle worsening air pollution,