Lahore High Court orders sealing smoke emitting factories

Taking stern action for the prevention of smog in the city, Lahore High Court has ordered that factories that are becoming a source of contaminating the air should be sealed.

Lahore has had hazardous levels of air quality five days in a row. Hearing a petition filed by a citizen, Haroon Farooq, the court reviewed all the steps that have been taken by the local administration and the implementation of previous judgments by the court. Commissioner Lahore division Mohammad Ali Randhawa was present in front of the judge and laid out the efforts made by the administration.

He told the court that strict actions have been taken against smoke emitting vehicles. For the awareness of environment friendly transport, as advised by the court in a previous hearing, campaigns for the promotion of cycling are being run in the government sector.
The court advised penalising the owners of the vehicles and including the private sector in the revival of cycling in next five to six months to protect the environment for the future.

Justice Shahid Kareem further adjudicated that factories that are contributing in the worsening of smog should be sealed, only allowed to reopen when the owners submit their word that if they do not comply with the guidelines their factories will be levelled to the ground by the authorities.
The next hearing is scheduled for November 7.