LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday expressed its dissatisfaction over the steps taken by the Punjab and city district governments to control smog and instructed a law officer to convey the court’s displeasure to Advocate General Punjab.

The court rejected a report submitted by the commissioner Lahore as being vague and directed the advocate general Punjab and the commissioner Lahore to hold a meeting to formulate a policy.

The court observed that smog is an emergency and should be addressed as such and adjourned the proceedings for Tuesday (today).

Earlier, the court hearing petitions on environmental issues, also showed displeasure over the absence of the chief secretary, the advocate general of Punjab and any representative of the transport department.

The court noted that it was the responsibility of the advocate general to convene a meeting and inform officials about the court's previous decision.

“How is this province being run?” the court questioned when a petitioner’s counsel said the chief secretary was in Geneva with the chief minister.

The court observed that a ban had imposed on construction activities for two months to address smog, but the order had not been implemented.

The court regretted that the consequences of felling trees to develop housing societies are now evident to all.

The court also questioned the non-implementation of the policy of two-day work-from-home and expressed concern over the failure to implement the environment related restrictions.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024