LHC lauds Punjab govt for anti-smog measures

LAHORE:Appreciating the Punjab government, the Lahore High Court has reiterated that Punjab govt needed to formulate a policy for conversion of small and medium public transport being used in Lahore for various purposes as these are the biggest contributors towards smog.

The court also directed the government to formulate a policy to convert the motorcycles to battery operated. The said written order was issued on Monday by Justice Shahid Karim of the Lahore High Court after the last hearing held on previous Friday. The further proceedings of the case will be held on November 20, 2024.

The order stated that the Advocate General Punjab has apprised that administrative approval has been given for induction of eco-friendly buses in Lahore. The relevant documents in this regard have been placed on the record and the budgetary allocation has also been made which was duly reflected in the budgetary documents of the Finance Department for the financial year 2024-25.

This was indeed commendable step and will contribute to lessen the environmental pollution and consequently the smog. Further, a large number of motorcycles being driven on the roads of Lahore need to be inspected strictly as these were also one of the dominant contributors towards smog.

Advocate General Punjab has placed on the record a number of booklets laying out the policies of the Punjab govt which include short term as well as long term policies to combat and control smog, the order said adding these measures were broad based and include strategies and steps to tackle floods, water security, air quality deterioration and heatwaves.

“Some of the measures which have been included in these booklets have not been taken previously by any government according to the Advocate General Punjab and not only that a policy has been formulated with regard thereto but also effective and practical measures have been put in place for their implementation,” the order stated.

The Advocate General Punjab has alluded to the certificate regarding financial activities of the Punjab Green Development Programme (PGDP) issued by the Board of Revenue, Punjab dated 12.07.2024 by which Provincial Disaster Management Fund has been established to meet expenses incurred on various calamities, the order maintained and added that the detail of ADP schemes (2024-25) pertaining to floods was also part of the material placed on the record by the Advocate General Punjab.

“Several measures have been taken regarding water security which includes rain water harvesting, ground water recharge and proper treatment of waste water. It further includes building reservoirs and increasing water resources. These projects too have been set in motion according to the Advocate General Punjab and budgetary allocations have been made towards these projects,” the court order maintained. The court also directed the LDA director general to expedite the rules regarding water treatment plants in buildings being constructed in provincial capital and across Punjab.

The court was told that construction of waste water treatment plants in north zone, Sahiwal and Sialkot have also started and were likely to be completed in the next two years. As regards public and private transport, it has already been submitted and e-buses are being procured and will start plying on the roads by March, 2025. State of the art vehicle inspection and certification system stations have been established in various districts of Punjab and mobile systems will also be on the roads by Monday next according to the report, the court said and maintained that there was also coordination underway with the federal government for enforcement of fuel standards specially provision of Euro-V fuel to Punjab.

The order further said the Advocate General Punjab was impressed upon of the needs to amend the Land Acquisition Act so as to conform the said law to the current needs as well as the constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973. Further, the law needed to be amended so as to comply with the directions issued by this Court in its different judgments.

According to the Advocate General Punjab, the govt was embarked upon fresh legislation to bring the acquisition law in tune with the current times and the new law is likely to be placed before the provincial assembly soon. Also, any policy to tackle smog will not be successful unless it included relocation of industries in and around Lahore regarding which learned Advocate General Punjab informs that the Government of Punjab has already started collecting data regarding such industries and the process for relocation has already commenced.

The data has been collected to compare the state of tree cover in Lahore as well as other Districts namely Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), which shows alarming position of tree cover and vegetation which has depleted over the years considerably.

The Punjab government, according to the Advocate General Punjab, has identified available pockets within these zones on which tree cover can be added substantially and for the purpose, the government needs not to acquire fresh land and this can be achieved by use of already available land to the government, the order said and hoped that this will enhance the tree canopy by implementing Ring Forestation around the districts of Punjab.

Further, land will be designated alongwith River Ravi towards Shahdara for dense tree cover as the lungs of Lahore district. The proposed strategies include relocation of scattered industries existing on the GT Road, Multan Road, Ferozpur Road to the designated industrial estate, the court ordered.

“Finally, the material includes road map for smog mitigation in Punjab which is reiteration of the already stated strategies which have been enumerated above. All of these steps are indeed appreciated and if pursued with dedication and sustainably, they will certainly give positive results so as to do away with smog in Lahore particularly and the province of Punjab in general,” the court order concluded.