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The Environment Protection Department (EPD) Punjab has once again extended the date for closure of brick kilns in the province by one week due to the forecast of favourable weather conditions. The Department had earlier given the date of October 27 for the closure of brick kilns, which now has been set at November 03, 2018.
The decision to this effect was taken at a meeting of the Smog Commission which held at the office of the Environment Protection Department (EPD) to evaluate the smog condition in Punjab as per the scientific data available. Smog Commission Chairman Dr Pervaiz Hassan chaired the meeting. Environment Protection Department Secretary Zafar Nasarullah and Brick Kiln Owners Association President Shoib Khan Niazi were also present in the meeting. The representatives from Local Government, Agriculture Department, Transport Department, Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO) and Metrological Department also attended the meeting.
The purpose of the meeting was to analyze the steps taken to control the smog in Punjab as per the data provided by SUPARCO, EPD and Met department. The SUPARCO representative briefed the participants on the current situation of smog and said that weather conditions are favourable. He said due to wind direction, pollutants emitted from stubble burning are concentrated mainly to the eastern border of India, which gives respite to Pakistani area from smog like condition.
The metrological department also briefed the participants and said that weather conditions will be favourable during next week and there may be some trouble in the first week of November. Upon this Chairman Smog Commission decided to extend the date of closing brick kiln for one more week. He said that Punjab has been divided into three zones namely green, yellow and red. Green zone will be the area where, due to minimum smoke emission, brick kilns will be allowed to continue working. Yellow Zone will be the area, which will be monitored due to moderate emission and will be analyzed for a ban in case of abrupt weather changes.
However, Red zones are the areas where emission is maximum and there will be a complete ban on old design brick kiln. The brick kilns which were converted to new Zig Zag technology will also be exempted from the ban. Chairman Smog Commission Dr Pervaiz also said that every step will be taken as per Supreme Court orders to avoid smog like condition in Punjab. He said that all decisions are being made in the light of scientific data received from satellite imagery and Met department.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2018

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