Over 68% kilns converted to zigzag design
65 children were also rescued from the kiln houses. PHOTO: FILE
The Judicial Water and Environmental Commission’s (JWEC) report revealed a collection of over Rs1 billion by bringing different sectors into the net of aquifer charges and conversion of 68.02% brick kilns to latest zigzag technology across the province.
Advocate Syed Kamal Ali Haider submitted a report before Lahore High Court’s (LHC) Justice Shahid Karim on behalf of JWEC chairman Justice (retd) Ali Akbar Qureshi. Justice Karim was hearing different petitions on how smog could be controlled, how society could be made pollution-free and how groundwater could be protected from wastage. Following the court’s directives, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been successful in the conversion of brick kilns from old technology to zigzag technology and the conversion has reached 68.02% which is equal to 5,537 out of total 8,140 brick kilns across Punjab. On Anti-Smog campaign, the report added that actions were taken against smoke emitting industries.
Around 74 FIRs were lodged against industrial units which were emitting smoke. Inspections were conducted for 611 times and found 160 units found working without emission control, steel industries operating without scrubber were 135, 211 units were sealed on the emission of excessive smoke. As many as 74 FIRs were lodged on smoke emission and violation of the PDMA directions. Around 333 brick kilns were inspected, 33 of them were found operating without zigzag method, 18 FIRs were lodged against brick kilns, 37 were sealed.
Read SEPA seals 100 ‘illegal’ battery kilns in Karachi
Smoke-emitting vehicles
As many as 30,565 vehicles were inspected, 4,933 vehicles were challenged, fine was imposed to the tune of Rs8.741 million during January. While the number of vehicles which has been impounded in the context of smoke emission reached 1969.
Aquifer charges
The Water and Sanitation Agency (WASA) has issued notices to 137 housing societies which included (approved, under process, illegal societies) which were not within the billing net. To recover ‘aquifer charges’ from a total of 573 societies, the court’s intervention resulted in the issuance of Aquifer charges bills from which more than Rs1.049 billion has been recovered. The said amount was recovered from cooperative and private societies, service stations, industrial sectors, big hotels and government departments.