Environmental emergency imposed in Punjab 

Karachi: Punjab Government has imposed an environmental emergency in Lahore following the alarming rise of smog in the city and its suburbs. Lahore has been declared a disaster given the increasing smog as smog from adjoining cities has also increased manifold.

To keep a check on the worsening situation, the Punjab government has imposed an environmental emergency in Lahore to control ever-rising smog. The emergency includes a ban on burning crop residue across Punjab, which will be dealt with indiscriminately against the violators. He said indiscriminate legal action against smoke-emitting vehicles would also continue. 

Chief Minister Chaudhry Parvez Elahi said that farmers would be provided with a modern harvester, "HepperSeed," to dispose of crop residues, and the transition of all brickkilns to zigzag technology is being ensured. 

Parvez Elahi said that while instructing the anti-smog squad to check the vehicles emitting smoke in the city regularly,he said that the anti-smog squad would also ensure the checking of vehicles at the entrances of the city. He assured that the Department of Protection, Environment, Transport, Industries, and Administration officers would go to the field and assess the situation.