Lahore: The Lahore High Court has issued a notice to the Punjab Environment Protection Department in a petition seeking a ban on the operation of all brick kilns and crops burning in the province to avoid smog in the coming winters – a news source reported.
Advocate Salman Niazi had filed the application in a pending case pertaining to water shortage and air pollution. He pleaded that the functioning of brick kilns caused air pollution, which ultimately leads to smog.
The applicant said that smog prevailed throughout the year, however, it got worse during the winter season. He said that the smog led to serious complaints of headaches, chest and throat infections, and burning eyes, as air pollution levels hit five times the legal limit.
He also pointed out that as per a report of the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the UN, Pakistan suffered one of the highest death tolls in the world from air pollution in 2015.
His argument was that it is of utmost importance to stop the functioning of brick kilns, halt the burning of crops, and control emissions from factories in the entire province to prevent the imminent threat of smog in the coming winter season. He said that the government needed to take immediate and effective precautionary measures to avoid a smog crisis in the coming months.
Justice Shahid Karim of the High Court sought a reply from the EPD.
