Daily Times

LAHORE: Justice Ayesha A Malik of Lahore High Court on Thursday, while reviewing environmental petitions, directed the Punjab government to implement the smog commission guidelines and recommendations in pith and substance.

The smog commission recommendations were to clamp down upon industrial units emitting green house gas emissions, second to close down brick kilns units which are not using zigzag technology, third to take action against motor vehicles polluting the environment, fourth not to burn rice crops in the winter, fifth to plant as many trees in the urban areas where development projects take place, sixth to spread environmental awareness campaigns in schools and educational institutions.

The smog commission was constituted by the then chief justice in 2017.

Commission chairperson Dr Pervez Hassan submitted that Punjab has been divided into three zones; green, yellow and red.

The green zones are those where smoke emission was minimum and brick kilns will be sealed in such areas.

Yellow zones are areas where there is moderate smoke emission and these areas will be monitored and analyzed for abrupt weather changes. He said that red zones in which some areas were found to be emitting large amounts of smoke and all kilns using older forms of technology will be banned in these areas, he explained.

He further submitted that the directives of Supreme Court will be implemented in pith and substance.

Petitioner counsel Sheraz Zaka had said that in 1952 the great smog was faced by London which thereafter implemented Environmental Laws and in 1956 implemented Clean Air Act 1956. He had submitted that in order to curb air and noise pollution during the times of former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, the coal industry in entire Britain was closed off.

He had said that in Pakistan, the reason behind the smog was the lack of enforcement of environmental laws and dysfunctional central laboratory in Lahore which is due to the negligence of Punjab environmental protection agency. He had submitted that the government had not taken any adequate awareness measures amongst the public.

He had said that the Punjab Environmental Protection Agency failed to perform its statutory obligations and enforce pollution charge rules and the federal government was flouting its international obligations under Paris Agreement 2015. He pointed out that even EPA testing laboratory was not functioning.

He requested that the provincial government and environmental protection agency should be asked whether the industrial activity taking place in the city was being scrutinised under Pollution Charge Rules 2001 or the agency is performing its statutory obligations. He also requested to inquire from the authorities as to what remedial measures have been taken to address the prevailing weather condition arising from the toxic smog.

Published in Daily Times, November 16^th 2018.