Daily Times

LAHORE: A large number of citizens, including students, labour union workers, teachers, lawyers, doctors, parents and activities of other NGOs, staged a protest in front of the Lahore Press Club (LPC) on Friday, decrying the government for failing to enforce environmental regulations.

The protesters, wearing masks and holding banners and posters inscribed with different slogans, demanded answers from the local authorities about the steps they had taken to mitigate environmental degradation, especially the ‘killer’ smog. They said that the people had a right to have clean air and a livable city.

They blocked the road and shouted slogans of discontent with the government for its inability to effectively address the air quality crisis that is currently affecting the provincial capital. They also condemned the government for its ‘ineffective’ action against industries, power plants, construction contractors and waste management companies, which they said were responsible for polluting the city.

Addressing the gathering, some of the protesters said that the Punjab government was constitutionally mandated to serve the people residing in the province and its responsibilities included protection of health and welfare of the people. They said that over the last two weeks, poisonous smog had blanketed Lahore, the largest city of the province, causing various health problems to the citizens.

They urged the provincial government to declare a health emergency and suggested steps to cope with the situation. They put forward seven demands to the government to deal with the prevailing smog. The demands included an immediate moratorium on coal power plants in Punjab, subsidy for renewable energy sources to help transition away from polluting sources and immediate ban on waste burning.

Other demands included incentives to small farmers to use agro-ecological methods for composting crop stubble, immediate and indiscriminate enforcement of environmental regulations on industries and immediate enforcement of dust control measures at all construction sites. The protesters also demanded that the government finalise and implement an ecologically sustainable urban transport plan, which should involve both removing faulty vehicles from roads and providing clean and affordable transportation to the public with adequate connections across the city.

The last demand of the protesters was that the government curb tree cutting in the city and engage the public in mass tree plantation projects using local and low-water-consuming species.

An active member of People’s Solidarity Forum, Aima Khosa, told Daily Times that due to criminal negligence of the government and other departments concerned, smog and fog had increased across the city, which badly affected the health of innocent citizens, especially children. She added that the government did not take any solid steps or make any better policy to combat this alarming situation. “We have presented a seven-point charter of demands to the government and other departments concerned for immediate action to save the city’s environment. If the demands are not met, a numbers of citizens, especially students, will stage peaceful protests at educational institutions.”

Published in Daily Times, November 11^th 2017.