LAHORE:Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) has warned that dangerous air pollution resulting from the recent US and Israeli attacks on oil facilities in Iran could reach western parts of Pakistan through the winds, which may affect air quality in different parts of the country. It may be noted here that Iran, Pakistan’s western neighbour, was in a state of war with the US and Israel since February 28.
The statement issued by the Meteorological Department said that due to the current situation in Iran, the winds could carry polluted particles towards the western parts of Pakistan, which could further worsen the air.
On March 7, after major air strikes on oil refineries and fuel depots in Tehran, toxic smoke blanketed the city, while black and oily rain was also reported on Sunday last, with thick black smoke from oil installations even obscuring sunlight in many areas.
The Met department said a western current will enter the upper regions of the country and may persist until March 12, due to which there was a possibility of rain and thunderstorms in various areas.
Meanwhile, partly cloudy weather with dry conditions was observed in the city here on Monday while Met office predicted similar weather conditions for the next 24 hours.The average AQI of the city was 147, which fell in the category of unhealthy for sensitive groups while the PM2.5 concentration was 10.8 times the World Health Organisation (WHO) annual PM2.5 guideline value.
Met officials predicted that cloudy weather with rain wind/thunderstorm was likely in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit-Baltistan, Kashmir and Potohar Region. Isolated hailstorm was also likely during the period while dry weather was likely in other parts of the country.Monday’s maximum temperature was recorded at Mithi where mercury reached 40°C while in Lahore it was 31°C.
