Punjab Relief Commissioner Babar Hayat Tarar has made fitness certificates issued by the Vehicle Inspection and Certification System (VICS) centres mandatory for all the public service vehicles entering Lahore.
In a move aimed at curbing smog and protecting the citizens of the provincial capital, the authorties have reportedly revoked the fitness certificates issued by all other government agencies for three months.
The relief commissioner said while speaking to The Express Tribune that instructions had been issued to the Lahore traffic police that the documents of the public service vehicles entering the city without the fitness certificate from VICS would be sent to the secretaries of the district regional transport authorities (DRTAs) concerned.
The secretaries will ensure that the documents are not returned until the owner obtains the fitness certificate of his vehicle from the VICS centre.
Babar Hayat said while issuing the instructions in this regard that the effects of smog were similar for people of all ages and it caused serious respiratory and heart diseases.
An official said measures were being taken by the authorities in the light of instructions of the Punjab government deal with smog as an urgent problem and effective action was being taken against vehicles emitting smoke in excess of the standards set by the transport department.
On the other hand, Punjab Transport Company is also intensifying its campaign against public transport vehicles found emitting smoke.
During the ongoing campaign, fine has so far been imposed against 18,981 vehicles whose owners were made to pay Rs4.11 million.
As many as 3,833 public service vehicles were impounded in various police stations.
Punjab Transport Company Chief Executive Officer Khawaja Sikandar Zeeshan said such drastic measures were essential to rid the environment of smog.
He said the citizens should also play their part in making the city safe for future generations by contributing to the measures taken by the Punjab government to eradicate smog.
Earlier in the week, Khawaja Sikandar had said in a statement that the Punjab Transport Company had adopted a zero-tolerance policy against public transport running without route and fitness certificates.
The Punjab Transport Company CEO had directed transporters to complete their papers at the earliest and said that the ongoing smog disaster in the city could be overcome only by timely fitness of the vehicles.
Under this campaign, any public transport which did not have a route permit and fitness certificate would be seized and not returned until the owner of the vehicle produced the route permit of the vehicle and the fitness certificate or both.
Khawaja Sikandar Zeeshan had directed the Deputy General Manager of Enforcement of the Punjab Transport Company, Faisal Yusuf, to continue the proceedings against public transport which did not have full papers in the same manner.
Meanwhile, after the previous rulers, the incumbent government also appears to be struggling to provide affordable and standard public transport services to the citizens of the provincial capital.
No investment has been made on public transport buses in Lahore for several years due to heavy subsidy on the metro services.
Several months back, the transport authority had requested the government to introduce distance-based fares for the passengers.
It had also recommended the introduction of cards to allow free travel to the senior citizens. An official had said that under the proposals, free of charge travel would be allowed for people with special needs and discount for students, government employees and working women. Cards would be issued to those eligible for the concessions.
The recommendations include allowing unlimited travel on the service through weekly and monthly cards.
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