News Desk : dhakamirror.com
In response to the severe smog issue, Schools are closed and government offices have moved half of their staff to remote work, heavy vehicles are completely banned from the roads, now the Advocate General of Punjab, Pakistan proposed a ‘unique plan’ to address the smog issue.
The advocate general apprised the Lahore High Court that the government has prepared a long-term plan relating to smog.
The plan includes a long-term strategy to reduce pollution levels. Couples will be encouraged to marry in October next year. Marriages in November, December, and January will be discouraged.
The government believes wedding celebrations contribute to pollution due to noise and firecrackers.
The Advocate General presented the plan “new smog mitigation policy” during a court hearing on smog-related petitions.
The Advocate General shared these details as the High Court, led by Justice Shahid Karim, resumed hearings on petitions aimed at reducing the smog levels. He emphasized that each government department has been assigned specific responsibilities to tackle this issue, and vehicles that produce smoke will be banned from the roads.
At the beginning of today’s hearing, the judge said, “This is a significant case. The government should have been here. They haven’t taken any action so far, and I mention this every day.”
The advocate general stated that the government created a task force in every district to address the smog issue.
“Since, November 9, the government has locked [smoke-emitting] 100 buses.”
It is pertinent to mention here that Punjab, particularly Lahore, has been in the grip of a severe smog crisis since last month, with thick, toxic clouds now visible from space in striking satellite imagery by Nasa.
According to IQAir on Tuesday, Lahore was reported to have the most polluted air in the world. Punjab’s provincial capital topped the AQI list of the most polluted cities globally, with India’s New Delhi and the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Kinshasa ranking second and third, respectively.
– Input from Geo News was used in this article.
