Rawalpindi Air quality today

Why is the air worst in winter?

Rawalpindi and Islamabad share one airshed, the body of air over both cities, and both have a big pollution peak in winter ^[1]. In the winter of 2023 to 2024, pollution across the two cities was 4.2 times higher than in the monsoon that followed ^[1]. Dawn reported the causes as stagnant winds, more vehicle use and waste burning ^[2].

Across Pakistan, in late autumn and winter, the air near the ground cools while warmer air sits above it like a lid ^[1]. This is called a temperature inversion, and it traps pollution close to the ground ^[1]. Smog is severe, visible air pollution that often builds up under an inversion as a thick, stagnant haze ^[1].

In October 2024, the medical superintendent of Rawalpindi's Holy Family Hospital told Dawn that poor air mainly affects people from October to February ^[4].

Where does Rawalpindi's pollution come from?

PM2.5 means fine particles 2.5 micrometres across or smaller, which come from sources such as vehicle exhaust and industry ^[9]. By the Pakistan Air Quality Initiative's emissions inventory, published in 2025, transport makes 53% of the PM2.5 in the Islamabad-Rawalpindi airshed ^[1]. Brick kilns make 18%, waste burning 11% and industry only 9% ^[1].

In the report's 2021 emission maps, pollution hotspots run along the main roads that link the two cities, such as the Islamabad Expressway and Murree Road ^[1]. The report says brick kilns upwind of Rawalpindi are likely to have an outsized effect on the city's air ^[1].

In November 2026, Rawalpindi's Environmental Protection Department named brick kilns, stone crushers, crop-residue burning, burning old tyres for oil, and smoke from vehicles, factories and large bakeries as causes ^[7]. It called smoke-emitting vehicles among the most dangerous sources ^[7].

How bad is Rawalpindi's air?

In 2024, Rawalpindi had 199 days when pollution was above Pakistan's legal limit, against 168 in Islamabad ^[1]. Only 11 days met the WHO standard, half as many as Islamabad's 22 ^[1]. The report estimates that the city's pollution shortens the average resident's life by 4.5 years ^[1]. The Punjab Environment Protection Agency rejected the report's findings in December 2025 and questioned its data ^[3].

The Air Quality Index, or AQI, rates air pollution on a scale where 301 to 500 is hazardous ^[9]. In November 2024, the average AQI of the districts covered by a Punjab school closure order, which included Rawalpindi division, went over 500 ^[5].

In October 2024, Dawn reported that the Punjab agency had no air monitoring in central Rawalpindi, such as Raja Bazaar, Murree Road and Pirwadhai ^[4]. Its readings came from Shallay Valley on Range Road ^[4]. In early November 2026, three Rawalpindi hospitals saw 2,961 patients with smog-related illness in 48 hours ^[7].

What is being done about it?

In November 2024, the Punjab Environment Protection Agency closed schools and tuition centres in Rawalpindi division from November 13 to 17, with classes moved online ^[5]. They reopened on November 19 with face masks required, no outdoor sports and no opening before 8:45am ^[6].

In November 2024, Rawalpindi officials reported that the environment department had demolished 24 smog-causing brick kilns since July ^[5]. Traffic police had issued 2,711 tickets and impounded 441 smoke-emitting vehicles ^[5]. In November 2026, the deputy commissioner ordered cases against people burning garbage, tyres or crop residue, and the bulldozing of kilns without cleaner technology ^[7].

Across Punjab, open burning of waste is banned under the province's 2023 smog rules, and in September 2026 the Punjab agency asked for dust and waste-burning hotspots to be watched in the peak smog period, from October to January ^[8]. The 2025 report says a decisive shift away from private vehicles could cut the area's PM2.5 by 25 to 30% ^[1].

How to protect yourself in Rawalpindi

Check the AQI forecast before planning time outdoors ^[9]. When it is unhealthy, choose lighter activities, keep them shorter, and exercise away from busy roads ^[9]. People with heart or lung disease, older adults, children and teenagers, pregnant people and outdoor workers are at greater risk ^[9].

When particle levels are high outdoors, they can be high indoors too ^[9]. Keep them lower by not burning candles or smoking indoors, and use a portable air cleaner designed to reduce particles or HEPA filters in a central air system ^[9]. Never burn leaves, garbage, plastic or rubber ^[9].