Multan: In a bid to control smog, the Environment Protection Department (EPD) issued notices to 300 brick kilns across the district, a news source reported. EPD aims to convert these kilns to the new Zigzag technology.
The department has provided a month’s time to the kiln owners to shift their kilns to the newer technology, or submit an affidavit for the completion of the task. Assistant Director Environment Hameed Akhtar said that these brick non-complying kilns would be closed by the end of October 2019.
Akhtar explained that smoggy weather would begin from the end of October and last till January. He added that they had initiated precautionary measures from June, and conducted inspections of brick kilns. He revealed that they have been able to shift three brick kilns to the Zigzag technology, while one kiln was under construction in Multan. He expressed his hopes that smog would be less intense this year.
The assistant director stated that the kilns running on old technology will not have permission to operate during smoggy weather. Akhtar added that they had been training brick kiln workers on the latest technology.
He said that an analysis had revealed higher carbon content than was permitted at all the units in question, and this was the primary cause for smog. He added that they have assigned two teams with the task of monitoring brick kilns round the clock.
Akhtar revealed that they were closing down kilns near urban areas, while they would not grant permission to construct any new kilns using the old technology. Meanwhile, he added that they had closed down four such under-construction kilns. He said that they were also paying visits to industrial units to instruct them to stop running boilers for the next two months in order to prevent smog.
