LAHORE - As part of its anti-smog steps the city administration fined Rs600,000 to an unspecified number of farmers and booked another 207 on the charges of stubble burning.
Stubble is the remains of crop harvest which farmers burn to save their time and money. But this action adds to air pollution and causes smog during winter. Smog causes respiratory and eye-related problems and other environmental issues.
The district government has imposed Section 144 banning stubble-burning. The government sprang into action a week ago when it fined a farmer in Minhalla village of Lahore for burning stubble.
Lahore Commissioner Dr Mujtaba Piracha has said countering smog is his top priority and no violation would be tolerated. The administration has taken action in four districts of the provincial capital so far.
Farmers alleged the government has failed to devise a proper policy to counter smog that was why they were being singled out. Environmentalists have stressed the need for taking indiscriminate action against all those contributing to environmental pollution. They urged action against the brick-kilns that are still operating on old method and continuously emitting dense smoke in the air.
Ban on brick-kilns being extended
App reported a meeting at Environment Protection Department (EPD) Thursday decided to extend ban on brick-kilns for one more week to ward off the threat of smog during the first week of November.
Smog Commission Chairman Dr Pervaiz Hassan chaired the meeting while (EPD) Secretary Zafar Nasarullah and Brick-Kiln Owners Association President Shoaib Khan Niazi were also present.
The representatives of Local Government, Agriculture Department, Transport Department, Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO) and Meteorological department also attended the meeting.
The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the steps taken to tackle the smog threat in Punjab as per the data provided by SUPARCO, EPD and MET departments.
The SUPARCO representative briefed the participants on the current situation of smog, saying that weather conditions were favourable now. He said that due to wind direction, the pollutants emitted from stubble burning had concentrated mainly to the eastern border of India, which gave respite to Pakistani areas from smog-like conditions. Meteorological department also briefed the participants about weather conditions.
Last year, the government woke up to devise a policy to fend off smog after the court reprimanded it. However, environmentalists rejected the policy, saying it lacked implementation mechanism. Lahore Bachao Tehreek (LBT) representative Imrana Tiwana told the media that air quality monitors installed by EPA were substandard. She said that these equipment were not calibrated to measure fine particulate matters (PM2.5), the most hazardous air pollutant. College of Earth and Environmental Sciences Principal Dr Sajid Rasheed complained about lack of interest on the part of authorities.