LAHORE: The Punjab government has constituted five anti-smog squad comprising representatives from the environment department, police, city administration, LESCO, WASA, and MCL to conduct weekly inspection of all industries in Lahore and to take stern action on violations.

This was disclosed at two separate media briefings conducted by Punjab Minister for Environment Muhammad Ramzan and spokesperson of Punjab government Hassan Khawar here on Monday.

Besides this, environment department in collaboration with SUPARCO is launching a pilot project in Lahore to develop different types of environmental models to address the root causes of pollution, said the Punjab Environment Minister.

Muhammad Rizwan said public needs to understand that smog is a form of air pollution that fumes into the air, created by the combination of fog while major cause of SMOG included 43% pollution from transport sector, emissions from industries 25%, waste and solid waste burning included 20%.

Large scale burning of crop residues in India also aggravates the smog situation in Punjab, especially in Lahore. In this regard, the department of environmental protection has set up anti-smog committees at the district level while the establishment of smog squads has also been ensured in the department.

Meanwhile the spokesperson of Government of the Punjab, Hasaan Khawar, asked people to play their role in pointing out the violations of environment laws and lodge their complaints to government helplines.

Calling burning of crop residues on both sides of the border a major cause of smog, he said that so far fines of Rs 3.6 million and 824 FIRs have been registered against violations. He stated that, so far, 700 smoke-emitting vehicles have been fined with up to Rs 3.8 million.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021