LAHORE: Private offices and schools may undergo a lockdown for a week, as hinted by the Lahore High Court owing to the worsening air quality in the city.
During the hearing of the petition related to environmental problems in Lahore, Justice Shahid Karim said that the situation called for a health emergency, while the Authorities of the Punjab Disaster Management said that smog had decreased in the city over the past week.
Advocate Sheraz Zaka emphasised on shutting down factories that were contributing to the smog. He further added that crop burning has not been stopped as the government had failed to take proper action.
Retired Col Mubashir Javed briefed regarding the steps taken to tackle the pollution, stating that many roads were unblocked for traffic. The efforts made by the traffic police to ensure the flow of the traffic were praised by Justice Karim.
The hearing was adjourned until next week while the Provincial Disaster Management Authority was instructed to prepare to go under a complete lockdown if the situation continued to worsen.