The second phase of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) crackdown on smoke-emitting enterprises has begun, according to Punjab Marriyum Aurangzeb, the senior minister.
Teams from the Environmental Protection Agency conducted raids at the Lahore-Sialkot Motorway.
The mapping of companies that release large amounts of smoke has started, according to Ms. Aurangzeb, and the legislative process is also in progress.
According to the Punjab senior minister, legislation imposing penalties and fines on smoke-emitting firms would come following an appeal to industry to contribute to air purification.
An extensive directive supporting proactive steps to increase environmental awareness to solve the growing smog issue was issued earlier in February by the Lahore High Court (LHC).
Educational institutions were instructed to set aside one session each week for environmental and plant awareness by Justice Shahid Karim’s written ruling from the court.
In order to foster in students a sense of accountability and care for their environment, the court plans to incorporate environmental education and awareness into the weekly schedules of educational institutions.
