LAHORE - A departmental meeting, chaired by Provincial Minister for Environmental Protection Muhammad Rizwan, was held here on Thursday in which arrangements regarding smog prevention were reviewed.

Secretary Environmental Protection Department (EPD) Zahid Hussain told the meeting that in a recent meeting of the Judicial Environment Commission, representatives of the kiln association voluntarily announced closing kilns from Nov 7 to Dec 31, 2020.

Director General (DG) Ashar Abbas told the meeting that the agreement made with the kiln association would be enforced and the district police officers (DCOs) of all districts would be directed to ensure its implementation. He said instructions have also been given to the Deputy Commissioners (DCs) regarding stubble burning, emissions from brick-kilns, industrial units and solid waste burning in order to curtail accumulation of smog during winter. Provincial Minister Muhammad Rizwan said that voluntary action on the part of brick-kiln owners was commendable to reduce environmental pollution.

He said that all the departments concerned should make a comprehensive strategy to control environmental pollution.

He said that closure of kilns was not the agenda of the government rather it wanted to ensure their conversion to ZigZag technology to minimise pollution.