LAHORE – The Punjab government Monday decided to close private and government schools in the provincial capital thrice a week as the smog situation in Lahore has taken a turn for the worse.
In a notification issued here, Punjab Relief Commissioner Babar Hayat Tarar said the restriction would be in place from November 27 to January 15. The commissioner said private offices in the city would also remain shut three days a week.
“Schools and offices will be closed on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday,” reads the notification.
Last week, Prime Minister’s advisor on climate change Malik Amin Aslam said that Pakistan was thinking of using the cloud-seeding technology developed by the United Arab Emirates to address the problem of smog next year.
Talking to a private news channel, Aslam said that the government had taken several steps to deal with the issue, though he admitted these measures were “still not enough.”
Residents of Lahore recently asked the authorities to take appropriate measures after their city was declared one of the most polluted places in the world where people were surrounded by smog.
Aslam maintained the authorities had determined that 40 percent of smog in Lahore and other places in the province of Punjab were caused by the transportation sector, adding that there was a policy to move toward better fuel and electric vehicles.
Asked about crop burning, he mentioned recent international data that maintained that 90 percent of it was happening in India.
Pakistan mulls over use of UAE tech for artificial rain to deal with smog
