LAHORE:The City witnessed a foggy and smoggy weather here on Tuesday while Met office predicted scattered rains during the next 24 hours.
The average AQI of the City was 247, which was very unhealthy and PM2.5 concentration was 34.4 times the World Health Organisation annual PM2.5 guideline value.Due to heavy fog, the Motorway Police has temporarily closed various motorways to protect the lives and property of the general public.
According to the spokesperson of the Motorway Police Central Region, the Motorway M2 from Lahore to Kot Momin, the Motorway M11 from Lahore to Sialkot was closed and the Lahore Eastern Bypass was also closed for traffic.
The Motorway M3 from Faizpur to Darkhana, the Motorway M4 from Pindi Bhattian to Faisalabad and Shorkot to Multan, and the Motorway M5 from Multan to Rohri were closed. According to the spokesperson, due to the closure of the motorways, the traffic pressure has shifted to the national highways; however, the Motorway Police was ensuring the flow of traffic on the national highways.
There was heavy fog on the national highway in Lahore, Manga Mandi, Phool Nagar, Pattoki, Okara, Sahiwal, Kaswal, Iqbal Nagar and Mian Channu. Fog was being observed in patches at many places, which can prove to be extremely dangerous for driving. Meanwhile, Met office said a shallow westerly wave was present over northern parts of the country. They also predicted cloudy weather accompanied with light rain/light snow at isolated places across the country while moderate to dense fog was likely to develop over plain areas of Punjab and upper Sindh during night and morning. Tuesday’s minimum temperature was recorded at Leh where mercury dropped to -08°C, while in Lahore, it was 9°C.
