Punjab province in Pakistan has declared a health emergency and closed two cities due to severe smog affecting nearly 2 million people.

With smog intensity escalating in Lahore at the end of October, affecting its 13 million residents, the Punjab government imposed a “green lockdown” and set up a “smog war room.”

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.

Authorities in Pakistan’s Punjab have declared a health emergency in the country's east due to increasing smog as more than 2 million people complained of respiratory illnesses. All educational institutions have been shut,

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