The crisis has prompted a flurry of responses from local authorities, as the country grapples with its most severe air pollution event in years. According to several Pakistani media reports the Punjab Provincial Disaster Management Authority had declared smog a “calamity” and instituted emergency measures.

Smog has choked Pakistan's Punjab province, pushing air pollution to hazardous levels. Lahore's Air Quality Index (AQI) reached 760, while Multan hit

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has raised concerns about the health risks facing 11 million children in Pakistan's eastern Punjab province due to worsening air pollution, which experts say has effectively become a "fifth season" in recent years.