Pakistan imposes lockdowns in Lahore and Multan as AQI exceeds 2000 causing severe health issues and overwhelming hospitals.

Authorities in Pakistan’s Punjab have declared a health emergency in the country's east due to increasing smog as more than 2 million people complained of respiratory illnesses. All educational institutions have been shut,

With an air quality index score of 246 at 08:20am, Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh ranked the 2nd on the list of cities around the world with the worst air quality. India’s Delhi, Pakistan’s Lahore, and India’s Kolkata, occupied the first, third and fourth spots, with AQI scores of 491, 232 and 226, respectively.

Pollution levels in India’s capital, Delhi, have soared to their highest levels this year, forcing schools and offices to close and cloaking the city in “hazardous” thick brown smog. In some parts of the city,