Section 144 imposed in province to combat smog

LAHORE:The Punjab government, in a bid to combat the smog, has decided to take action against those causing air and environmental pollution through burning of crop stubble, garbage, industrial and vehicular emissions, municipal solid waste, tyres, plastic, rubber and leather items etc.

Chief Secretary Punjab Kamran Ali Afzal during a meeting at the Civil Secretariat here on Monday issued directions to authorities concerned to enforce the section 144 imposed throughout the province as part of efforts to control smog. Under section 144 burning of crop residue and garbage have been banned across the province for one month from October 6.

The Chief Secretary said that there is a need to adopt preventive measure and enhance awareness to mitigate the factors behind smog. He directed all the relevant departments to strictly implement the instructions on smog control, warning that no negligence would be tolerated in this regard.

The participants were told that only new Zig Zag technology brick kilns would be allowed to operate and strict action would be taken against the violators. The Additional Chief Secretary (Home), administrative secretaries of different departments including industries, environment and agriculture and director-general of provincial disaster management authority attended the meeting.