Amraiz Khan Lahore
Keeping in view the alarming rise in Lahore, Punjab government has decided to start criminal proceedings against those involved in waste burning, sources in Punjab Cabinet said here on Friday.
They said that those officers showing poor performance in this regard will also be held responsible and action would be taken against them under PEDA Act.
The Local Government and Community Development (LG&CD) department have passed these directions to the commissioners and deputy commissioners of Punjab including Lahore.
Punjab Local Government Secretary Noor-ul-Amin Mengal has directed strict action against the violators on the orders of the Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar.
Mengal said that the concerned chief officers would have to face departmental action if they did not comply with the orders against the culprits.
Punjab Secretary Local Government said that steps are being taken on the direction of the Cabinet Committee on Anti-Smog.
Pollution in Lahore’s atmosphere is increasing at an alarming rate as the city’s Air Quality Index (AQI) was recorded at 433 on Thursday morning.
The hazardous air quality or smog as is ordinarily called has started taking its toll on people’s health as they have started falling prey to skin, eye and throat infections.
The issue of smog has become so serious in the Punjab capital that it has topped the list of world’s most polluted cities on several occasions in recent weeks, so much so that now it has started making headlines in the world media.
Apart from that, air pollution is now no more Lahore-specific issue as other Punjab cities such as Faisalabad, Gujranwala and Hafizabad are also blanketed in thick smog for the last several days.
Besides that, visibility has also dropped considerably as thick smog hovers of the city and its outskirts in the shape of a cloud.
The gravity of the situation has forced the locals to demand the administration take steps to rid them of air pollution.
