Vehicles sans green stickers banned in Punjab

With air pollution levels rising alarmingly in Islamabad, Rawalpindi and Murree, Punjab authorities have decided to immediately ban vehicles operating without green stickers or valid fitness certificates.

The smog alert season will begin on November 1 and continue until January 31, 2026, or until the smog — described as a "black haze" — subsides.

The Punjab Environmental Protection Department has approved a province-wide anti-smog campaign starting November 15 against all smoke-emitting vehicles, particularly heavy public and goods transport operating from Rawalpindi and Islamabad to other districts.

Vehicles without environmental testing system (ETS) certificates or green stickers will be seized, and their drivers will face fines and legal action.

Exhaust testing has been made mandatory, and a zero-tolerance policy has been imposed against environment-damaging transport.

The Air Quality Index currently stands at 177 in Islamabad, 171 in Rawalpindi, 158 in Murree, 138 in Attock, 150 in Chakwal, and 161 in Jhelum.

The worsening air quality has triggered a spike in respiratory and skin diseases, including asthma, tuberculosis, whooping cough and throat infections, filling allied hospitals with patients.

Marble factories sealed

In a major enforcement operation against industrial air pollution, the Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency (Pak-EPA) in coordination with the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) Administration, sealed several non-compliant marble factories operating near Sector B-17, Islamabad, for persistent violations of the Pakistan Environmental Protection Act, 1997, according to a press release issued on Thursday.

"The action was part of Pak-EPA's ongoing campaign to curb smog and control dust emissions from marble and granite processing units, which were identified as significant contributors to deteriorating air quality in and around the federal capital," said Muhammad Saleem Shaikh, media spokesperson for the Ministry of Climate Change & Environmental Coordination.

The operation was led by Khalid Mehmood Chadhar, Director (EIA/Monitoring), and Muhammad Ramazan, Deputy Director (Legal/Enforcement) of Pak-EPA Islamabad under the supervision of the Director General of Pak-EPA Islamabad Nazia Zeb Ali. The inspection, conducted in the presence of a magistrate, found that several marble processing units had failed to comply with repeated notices and warnings issued by the competent authority.

The Director General Nazia Zeb Ali said that excessive dust and fine particulate matter generated during marble cutting and polishing are among the leading causes of ambient air pollution, which has been worsening during the current smog season, affecting both public health and visibility.

Consequently, the non-compliant units were sealed, and Environmental Protection Orders (EPOs) were issued under the relevant provisions of the law for persistent violations of environmental standards, she added.