Pakistan to reopen Punjab schools after smog improves

Pakistani authorities announced that schools would reopen on Wednesday in Punjab, the country's most populated province, after a drop in dangerous air pollution.

Schools have been closed for nearly two weeks in the province as dense smog remained at "hazardous" levels.

"The ambient air quality has improved in Punjab, due to rain in upper parts of Punjab, change in wind direction and speed," the province's environmental agency said late Tuesday.

"Therefore, all the educational institutions in the whole province, including Lahore and Multan Division, shall be opened" on Wednesday, it said.

Students and staff will be required to wear face masks, it added, while also ordering a "complete ban on outdoor sports and outdoor co-curricular activities till further orders."

Breathing toxic air has catastrophic health consequences, with the WHO saying strokes, heart disease, lung cancer and respiratory diseases can be triggered by prolonged exposure.

A mix of low-grade fuel emissions from factories and vehicles, exacerbated by seasonal crop burn-off by farmers, blanket the city each winter, trapped by cooler temperatures and slow-moving winds.