Dry weather, not smog, increasing diseases: minister

LAHORE: Minister for Environmental Protection Muhammad Rizwan has said some elements are using smog as a cover to spread false news among people that smog is causing a dangerous increase in diseases.

The minister said people needed to understand dangerous diseases do not increase due to smog but due to dry weather. He said this after a meeting with a delegation of the Health Department here on Tuesday. The delegation was led by Dr Shahid Magsi who said that the report of seasonal diseases was normal. March witnesses more diseases as weather changes this month, he maintained. The spread of diseases is still normal and problems have not yet arisen due to smog, he claimed. The delegation presented a report to the minister highlighting details of smog and the normal ratio of diseases. The minister asked the delegation to play its role in conveying correct message to people as the Health Department can take people into confidence about the current situation.

APTMA: A delegation of All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) Punjab led by its Chairman Hamid Zaman, called on Provincial Minister for Industries and Commerce Mian Aslam Iqbal here at the Civil Secretariat, Tuesday. The delegation apprised the minister of problems of textile sector. On the occasion, APTMA chairman said the industry feared that the suspension of gas supply would lead to the closure of industrial units and unemployment of the people.

The minister while talking to the delegation said that gas supply to the textile sector and other issues would be resolved on a priority basis. A letter will be written to the federal government for the gas supply to the sector and a meeting of the textile sector delegation with the PM would be arranged. The delegation included APTMA Punjab Vice-Chairman Kamran Arshad, Secretary-General Muhammad Baqir and others.