LAHORE – The Punjab government has directed the installation of air purifiers at major commercial centres, and shopping malls to save visitors from hazardous smog.
On Sunday, Lahore’s average Air Quality Index (AQI) reached 518. AQI was recorded at 593 at Town Hall, 481 at Punjab University and 475 at Shimla Hill. AQI of 400-500 is considered hazardous.
As per the notification issued by Punjab Environmental Protection (EPA) Director General (DG) Dr Imran Hamid Sheikh, the management of commercial plazas/malls has been directed to install an adequate number of efficient air purifiers to provide clean air to visitors.
The recent spike in respiratory diseases due to smoke, dust etc is posing a serious and imminent threat to public health. Hence, it is imperative to take all possible safety measures for the prevention of morbidity and disease caused by deteriorating air quality.
The Health Advisory System for Critical Air Pollution Events (HAS-CAPES) was notified on 13.12.2022 under which the 1st meeting of the Provincial CAPEs Committee (PCC) was held on 21.10.2024 which declared that Critical Air Pollution Event has taken place in Lahore based on AQ1. Now, a Critical Air Pollution Event has taken place in Faisalabad, Gujranwala and Multan given the high AQI levels.
“I, Dr Imran Hamid Sheikh (PAS), Director General, Environmental Protection Agency, Punjab in exercise of the powers conferred upon me u/s 6(1) of the Punjab Environmental Protection Act, 1997, do hereby advise management of Commercial Plazas/Malls of the whole Punjab to install adequate number of efficient air purifiers in their plazas/malls to provide clean air to the visitors”, reads the notification.
The order will be applicable within the jurisdictions of Lahore, Gujranwala, Faisalabad and Multan Divisions.
As such, the ban is effective in districts of Lahore, Sheikhupura, Kasur, Nankana Sahib, Gujranwala, Gujrat, Hafizabad, Mandi Bahauddin, Sialkot, Narowal, Faisalabad, Chiniot, Jhang, Toba Tek Singh, Multan, Lodhran, Vehari and Khanewal.
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