The Lahore High Court on Thursday sought details of decisions taken by Punjab chief secretary to avert smog in the coming winter season. The court was hearing a petition seeking a ban on operation of brick kilns and crops burning in the province when a law officer stated that several decisions had been taken at a meeting led by the chief secretary.

He said a ban had been put on burning of corpse while brick kilns owners had been warned of closure if they did not switch to zigzag technology.

Petitioner's counsel Abuzar Salman Niazi pointed out that there were only two brick kilns in the province running on zigzag technology.

He said the main contribution to the smog were the brick kilns as they failed to use fuel-efficient technology, burning of corps stubble, emission from factories and polluting vehicles.

He said the government needed to take immediate and effective precautionary measures to avoid smog crisis in coming seasons.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2019