Smog challenge: Educational institutions in Lahore to remain closed on Mondays

LAHORE: Chief Minister Punjab Sardar Usman Buzdar has approved shutting down all public and private educational institutions on Monday within the limits of Lahore Metropolitan Corporation. However, the institutions could conduct virtual classes to continue their studies.

All private offices will also be closed on Monday in Lahore and the staff would be able to work from home. On the direction of CM, Relief Commissioner Punjab Babar Hayat Tarar has issued a notification and the decision would be applicable till 15 January 2022.

In this regard, the CM has stated to take every possible step to overcome smog as the Punjab government has already termed it a calamity. Ban has been imposed on burning of tyres in factories and stumble while burning the solid waste is also banned.

Immediate action has been taken on incidents of burning the solid waste and the government would continue to take every possible step to overcome smog. Any negligence in this regard would not be tolerated, he added.

Meanwhile, well-placed sources from the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) said the Punjab government was pondering over the option of shutting down schools and private offices on Monday over the last few days.

They said a proposal was put forward to the Chief Minister to minimize vehicular emission in the city as the situation is likely to aggravate further with drop in mercury to almost 2 degree Celsius in early December.

According to the sources, the home-based industries are involved in unbridled burning of tyres, plastic material and plastic bags throughout night. Similarly, the brick kilns prefer cheap solutions like burning of tyres and plastic material during the wee hours.

As a result, the environment of the city turns into a canopy of smoke due to these unchecked activities and the situation turns worst when vehicles are taken to roads, adding 40 percent emission to the environment and an outsider gathers the very first impression of smog soon he enters the city, they added.

The PDMA sources said heaps of solid waste material on roadsides is third major contributor to smog as the municipal committee staff leaves them either unattended or prefer to burn. Vehicles passing through these heaps blow the dust out to the environment throughout the day.

The Punjab government has constituted smog squads to control the situation and it has added staff from all the relevant departments to check corruption. The sources said there were complaints that the staff of environment department was compromising on account of underhand deals with the owners of home-based industries and brick-kilns.

Therefore, field staff from other departments has been added to the squads, which have lodged 23 FIRs, sealed 27 of them and imposed fines worth Rs9000 against home-based industries besides registering 824 FIRs and imposing Rs43 million fines against brick kilns so far.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021