Smog, fog: Low visibility, Punjab motorways closed

Lahore: In various cities of Punjab, including Multan, Bahawalpur, and Rajanpur, motorways were closed for all types of traffic due to reduced visibility due to severe smog and fog.

Motorways M2 from Lahore to Bhera, M3 from Lahore to Darkhana, and M4 from Multan to Pindi Bhattian have been closed due to heavy fog and smog.

According to the spokesperson of Motorways Police, Motorway M5 from Multan to Sukkur and Lahore-Sialkot Motorway has also been closed for traffic.

It is pertinent to note that the scope of smog has spread from Punjab to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Multan ranked first among the most polluted cities of Pakistan, while Lahore ranked second and Peshawar ranked third.

Meanwhile, due to heavy smog and fog in Punjab, Multan's flight operations were severely affected and six flights to Multan were canceled due to extremely low visibility.

According to aviation authorities, 34 flights across the country were delayed due to smog and administrative problems. Due to reduced visibility, the flight from Muscat to Multan landed in Islamabad, while the private air flight from Jeddah to Multan landed in Lahore.

It is also reported that the private air flight from Muscat to Lahore landed in Sialkot and the private airline flight from Dubai to Lahore landed in Islamabad. Due to reduced visibility, two domestic flights from Multan to Karachi, two international airline flights from Multan to Jeddah, and two Multan-Riyadh flights were also canceled.

Apart from this, the arrival and departure of flights from Lahore to Kuala Lumpur, Dubai Istanbul, Jeddah Karachi, Madinah, and Al Ain to Islamabad were delayed. Flights from Jeddah and Islamabad to Jeddah, Riyadh, Istanbul, and Bahrain were delayed while flights from Sharjah and Istanbul to Karachi were delayed.

Similarly, the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight from Karachi to Lahore was delayed by four hours from the schedule.