The Punjab government in Pakistan on Friday banned people from entering public parks, zoos, playgrounds and even museums amid rapidly deteriorating state of air quality in the province.

A day ago, Lahore’s air pollution reached unprecedented levels, ranking it as the world’s most polluted city for the past 48 hours, as dense smog blankets major districts of Punjab, reported Dawn News.

The city's Air Quality Index surpassed the 1,000-mark in some areas.

Friday’s notification put a “complete ban on public entry in all parks (public & private), zoos, playgrounds, historical places, monuments, museums and joy/playlands” from November 8 (today) till 17, the Pakistani newspaper reported.

The ban has been imposed in Pakistani districts like Lahore, Sheikhupura, Kasur, Nankana Sahib, Gujranwala, Gujrat, Hafizabad, Mandi Bahauddin, Sialkot, Narowal, Faisalabad, Chiniot, Jhang, Toba Tek Singh, Multan, Lodhran, Vehari and Khanewal.

“Any violation [of] this order shall be punished U/S 188 P.P.C,” the notification stated as quoted by Dawn News.

The notification further noted that  the Punjab government is “striving hard to control all possible intrinsic factors which cause air pollution and deteriorate the quality of ambient air.”