LHC makes M-Tag a must to cut pollution at toll plaza

LAHORE:

The Lahore High Court (LHC) has directed the motorway police to stop vehicles that do not have balance in M-Tag from entering the M2 motorway.

LHC Justice Shahid Karim ordered imposition of Rs2,000 worth of fine over driving a car without a valid licence. Earlier, the court had imposed fine of Rs2,000 on those violating one-way rules.

The judge issued a detailed judgment on petitions about curbing smog, pollution and groundwater depletion.

The detailed judgment mentioned that a representative of Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) had pointed out that the Air Quality Index (AQI) around the area where the Ravi M2 toll plaza is situated was the highest. He suggested that motorway police should not permit any car to enter the motorway without having balance in the M-Tag.

According to the PDMA representative, congestion at the toll plaza of cars lacking M-Tag balance is a big contributor to the pollution due to emission of CO2 from idling engines.

The court declared that the deputy attorney general should urgently touch base with representatives of the National Highway Authority (NHA) and motorway police to impose the condition from next Wednesday.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 4^th, 2021.