Pollution control: LHC orders govt to devise ‘smog policy’

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court has directed the Punjab government to device a policy on smog and to ensure the functioning of environmental laboratories by the first week of April 2017.

The LHC chief justice ordered this while hearing identical petitions in the wake of the recent spell of thick smog that enveloped Lahore and adjoining areas.

Environment Secretary Capt (retd) Saif Anjum said Rs388 million had been approved for environmental laboratories and staff recruitment was in process. The laboratories would be functional within the next four months. He claimed that a policy on smog would also be finalised soon.

Advocate Sheraz Zaka argued the government created a misconception that smog appeared due to the burning of agricultural waste on the Indian side of Punjab.

The real reason behind the smog was the lack of enforcement of environmental laws and dysfunctional central laboratory in Lahore, he alleged.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 16^th, 2016.