Lahore: In the wake of an overall drop in economic activity seen following the nationwide lockdown imposed to control further COVID-19 spread, the Punjab Environment Protection Department has decided to provide relief to the province’s kiln owners by sparing them from its earlier requirement to shift their existing setups to zigzag technology, a news source reported.
The department had earlier set December 31 as the deadline for conversion of kilns operating on conventional technology to the environment-friendly zigzag technology. According to reports, the early monsoon spell combined with the imposition of lockdown have adversely affected these businesses, where spending additional several hundreds of thousand rupees required for the technology shift won’t be possible for the owners.
‘The government doesn’t wish to add additional burden on the kiln owners who are already dealing with economic turmoil,’ said Environment Protection Department Direct Naseem-ur-Rehman. He further stated that the mandatory condition for kilns to shift to zigzag technology has been postponed till the lifting of lockdown in the Punjab.
At the moment, only 7% of kilns in Punjab have been converted to the new technology. As per the statistics shared by the department, 620 out of 8,000 kilns in Punjab currently operate on the efficient zigzag technology.
