LAHORE, Oct 19 (APP):The Punjab government Wednesday set up a smog control room in the provincial capital to monitor activities of field teams.
Provincial Minister for Environment Protection (EPD), Cooperatives and Parliamentary Affairs Muhammad Basharat Raja inaugurated the control room set up in the EPD.
Chief Minister’s Coordinator for Environment Rana Sohail Ahmed and Secretary Environment Protection Usman Ali Khan were also present.
The provincial minister inspected the control room and issued instructions to the staff deputed there.
Talking to the media, Basharat Raja said the impression that Lahore was the most polluted city in the world was not correct. “Currently, many cities in neighboring countries are more polluted than Lahore”, pointed out the minister.
He said even in October, the air quality index (AQI) of the most polluted area of Lahore had not gone above 180. “Smog monitoring system has been installed with the support of the World Bank”, he said.
The minister said effects of burning crop residues in Indian Punjab affected the border areas of Pakistan.
The issue of crop burning in India had been raised at international forums, including the World Bank, he said.
The minister said that the field teams would be monitored with the help of a control room established in the environment protection department and a special app developed for the purpose. “This year preventive measures have been started from May, much ahead of the smog season.
Currently, anti-smog squads and all relevant departments are fully active on the instructions of the chief minister” said Basharat Raja.
The minister said that remote areas were being monitored with the help of Sparco’s satellites.
He said that action was taken against 719 industrial units in one month for spreading air pollution.
Closing such a large number of factories did not mean that the factories would remain closed forever, they would opened after fines and installation of air pollution reducing devices, he responded to a question.
He said that the main cause of smog spread was smoky vehicles, adding that anti-smog squads were keeping an eye on smoke-emitting vehicles at the entrances of the city.