As the city continues to battle severe smog, Lahore's air quality index (AQI) has improved marginally, recording a value of 299 on Wednesday — just one point shy of the "hazardous" category.

This improvement, however, offers little relief to the city's residents who have been enduring this hazardous air quality for nearly 10 consecutive days.

According to the Swiss air quality monitoring platform IQAir, Lahore has maintained an AQI near the 300 mark for an extended period, a level considered hazardous for human health.

The city, which is home to over 14 million people, ranks as the second-most polluted major city in the world in terms of air quality, with fine particulate matter (PM2.5) concentrations 44.8 times higher than the World Health Organisation's (WHO) recommended annual guideline values.

For nearly two months, the smog has blanketed much of Punjab, home to more than half of Pakistan’s 240 million people, leading to unprecedented levels of air pollution in cities like Lahore and Multan. While the provincial government has implemented various emergency measures to reduce the impact of pollution, including school closures and restrictions on public spaces, the situation remains dire.