Daily Times

The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Saturday took notice of the increasing environmental pollution in Lahore. Justice Shahid Kareem presided over an application filed by Haroon Farooq who has sought court’s orders to control environmental pollution in the provincial capital.

Justice Kareem remarked that the environmental pollution in the city has reached alarming levels in the recent days. “An international agency has declared Lahore as the most polluted city,” the court said in its interim written order.

The director general of the Environment Protection Department (EPD) admitted that the measures adopted to control pollution have been insufficient.

It is the responsibility of the agriculture department to execute the judicial order to prevent burning of crops.

The EPD DG further informed the court that factories located in the city and in the surrounding areas and towns have significantly contributed to the pollution in the region.

Subsequently, the court ordered the Environment Commission to submit its report on Dec 27 for implementation on measures to curb pollution.

The EPD Punjab was established to eradicate the rapidly increasing problem of environmental degradation as protection, conservation, rehabilitation and improvement of environment was needed. For this purpose, the EPD created Environment Protection Agency (EPA) which is also responsible for the prevention and control of pollution and promotion of sustainable development in the province.