Meeting Decides To Ply Electric Rickshaws, Vehicles To Combat Smog

Punjab Chief Minister Punjab Sardar Usman Buzdar chaired a meeting at his office to review steps for dealing with smog where it was decided in principle that electric rickshaws and vehicles would be plied in the province along with the installation of biogas plants

LAHORE, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 28th Oct, 2020 ):Punjab Chief Minister Punjab Sardar Usman Buzdar chaired a meeting at his office to review steps for dealing with smog where it was decided in principle that electric rickshaws and vehicles would be plied in the province along with the installation of biogas plants.

A smog-monitoring cell has also been set up in Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA).

Finance Minister Hashim Jawan Bakht, Chief Secretary, SMBR, ACS (LG), secretaries of agriculture, transport, industries, environment, energy and housing departments, DIG (Traffic), DG PDMA and others attended the meeting.

The CM was told that 43 per cent smog was resulting due to vehicular emissions and powers have been delegated to districts for taking steps to deal with an increase in air quality index.

204 FIRs have been lodged in two days due to smog-related activities besides challan of 11685 vehicles and 109 industries.

The meeting decided to shut conventional brick-kiln from November 7 in the whole of the province while the brick-kiln operating on zigzag technology would continue to function.

The CM said the DCs have been delegated the powers of the relief commissioner to overcome smog. Smog control centres have been set up in every district along with the nomination of focal persons in the offices of commissioners and DCs, he added.

Usman Buzdar directed to strictly ensure the ban on burning of tyres in factories adding that coordination between government and civil society was also important in this regard.

Ban on the burning of crops stubble would be strictly implemented and steel rolling industries would also be transferred to environment-friendly technology, the Chief Minister said and directed the PCSIR to examine developing smog-towers for the provision of clean air.