Punjab govt announces hefty fines to deal with smog in Lahore

LAHORE: Punjab government has imposed hefty fines against violators contributing to the smog situation in the province especially in Lahore, ARY NEWS reported.

The decision to impose fines was taken during a steering committee meeting on smog headed by relief commissioner Babar Hayat Tarar.

It was decided to impose a fine of Rs2000 on smoke-emitting motorcycles and four-wheelers besides also charging a fine of Rs50,000 against those involved in burning their harvest or smoke-emitting brick kilns.

Any factory found emitting smoke would also be fined Rs50,000 as the steering committee meeting also directed the provincial departments to minimize the use of official vehicles to 50 percent to counter the rising impact of smog.

Moreover, the meeting also transferred its powers to deputy commissioners to effectively enforce the decisions.

Previously, a cabinet body formed to mitigate the effects of smog in the Punjab province especially in Lahore has decided against shutting down schools in case the smog situation gets deteriorated.

According to sources privy to the details of the meeting, Punjab Finance Minister Hashim Jawan Bakht headed the meeting of the standing committee of the cabinet on smog where it was briefed on the current situation by senior member Board of Revenue Babar Hayat Tarar.

“Suggestions were presented before the meeting to shut down schools in case smog situation worsens,” they said adding that however, the committee decided against it.

Commissioner Lahore has been tasked to implement measures needed to mitigate the effect of air pollution.