LAHORE: Senior Member Board of Revenue (SMBR) Baber Hayat Tarar said on Wednesday that the intensity of smog will be lesser this year; however, the Punjab Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) has taken necessary steps to control it.

While addressing a press conference, here today, Tarar said that actions were initiated to check the factors causing smog; while the provincial government which has already declared smog calamity, has engaged district governments and five departments to control the smog. The SMBR who was accompanied by provincial secretary environment Zahid Hussain and DG PDMA Khurram Umar Shahzad told media that it was wrong impression that only burning of rice crop residuals was the major cause of the smog.

Rather, the fact is that agriculture crops burning contributed only 8 percent to the smog while 12-percent was contributed from the crops burning of India. Terming 'traffic smoke' as the major cause of smog in Punjab, he said this is due to use of substandard fuels in vehicles; traffic smoke was contributing 43-percent to smog while 25 percent is from the industries and 20 percent from the litre burning.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020