Pakistan ’s smog situation has gone from bad to worse as air pollution rose to a record in Lahore. Sensors tracked by the Swiss monitor IQAir recorded an air quality index of 1,300 in the country’s second-largest city at 5 p.m. local time, the highest this year and well beyond a level of 50 that is deemed safe.

In the city of Lahore, workers have been told to stay home as air pollution levels rose far beyond what is considered safe.

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.