The authorities have also imposed a "health emergency" in Lahore and Multan districts to combat dense smog blanketing the province of about 130 million population for the last few weeks

A Pakistani province declared a health emergency Friday due to smog and imposed a shutdown in two major cities. Smog has choked Punjab for weeks, sickening nearly 2 million people and shrouding vast swathes of the province in a toxic haze.

Pakistan's Punjab declared a health emergency due to toxic smog on Friday, banning construction, shutting schools for another week and moving universities online, with a three-day lockdown possible, the province's senior minister said on Friday.

A total of 53 domestic and international flights faced significant delays. Notably, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flights PK 340 and 341 from Karachi to Faisalabad were among those canceled.