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Punjab with a population of 127 million has been battling smog since last month.
“Over 1.8 million people visited hospitals and private clinics in the smog-affected districts of Punjab in the past 30 days, most of them suffering from respiratory ailments and eye burns,” said Ahsan Riaz, spokesman for the health department.
Earlier, officials said tens of thousands of people had been treated in hospitals in recent weeks, but Riaz said on Tuesday that the number of people affected by the smog was much higher and hospitals were overwhelmed with such patients.
The provincewide school closures came more than a week after officials closed schools in 18 smog-hit districts there.
Toxic smog has enveloped Pakistan’s cultural capital Lahore and 17 other districts in Punjab since October.
This forced the government to close all parks and museums for 10 days last week.
Authorities have urged people to avoid unnecessary travel as a record wave of smog causes respiratory illnesses and eye infections.
The latest development comes a day after the UN’s children’s agency warned that the health of 11 million children in Pakistan’s Punjab province is at risk from air pollution that experts say has reached its fifth season in recent years.
According to the Punjab Environment Department, Multan — a city in the province — remained the most polluted city on Tuesday, with air quality index readings of around 700. Anything above 300 is considered hazardous to health.
The authorities have made it mandatory to wear face masks, but this is largely ignored.
The government also said it was considering methods to induce artificial rain to combat pollution.
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