The schools and offices in Lahore will remain closed for three days a week — Friday, Saturday and Sunday — due to the worsening smog situation in the city.
The order will remain effective till January 15, 2023.
Office closure
“All private offices being operated by companies, private sector entities and other individuals, within the territorial limits of Lahore Metropolitan Corporation, shall remain closed on every Friday, and Saturday, with effect from 07.12.2022 until 15.01.2023,” stated the notification issued by the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) Relief Commissioner Zahid AKhtar Zaman and signed off by Coordination Director Tauqir Mehmood Wattoo.
The notice, however, stated that the private sector staff may continue to work from home on off days.
School closure
Meanwhile, the notification about closure of schools in Lahore District three days a week was issued by the School Education Department, clearly mentioning that the decision was applicable to all the private and government schools.
“In compliance with the directions of Hon’ble Lahore High Court, Lahore, in Writ Petition No. 227807/ 2018 vide order dated 02-12-2022, it is notified that owing to prevailing SMOG condition, all Public & Private Schools in District Lahore shall remain closed on every Friday & Saturday, in addition to the weekly holiday on Sunday till further orders,” stated the notification.
The schools can give homework to the students during the closure of schools.
LHC order
The step was taken on directives of the Lahore High Court (LHC) to close schools three days a week and private offices two days a week as smog intensifies in the city, the Punjab government said in a notification issued on Wednesday.
The court had issued the orders while hearing of a case related to pollution and smog situation in Lahore and other Punjab cities. During the hearing, LHC had ordered the lawyer of the Punjab government to submit a notification regarding the closure of schools in 24 hours.
Smog emergency
Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Minister Parvez Elahi has announced an environmental emergency in provincial capital and other cities to deal with the alarming situation of smog in the province. The CM has ordered the concerned authorities to take every possible measure to effectively implement the smog reduction plan.
Proposed measures include:
- A ban on burning the crops residue
- Acting against smoke-emitting vehicles
- Transferring all brick kilns to zigzag technology
- Carrying out anti-smog campaign continuously for three months
“Action should be taken to control those factors that are causing smog,” said CM Elahi, adding that failure to implement the standard operating procedure (SOPs) to reduce smog will not be tolerated.
World’s most polluted city
Anti-smog measures accelerated in Punjab after an air quality monitor last month declared Lahore as the world’s most polluted city with an air quality ranking of 348, well over the hazardous level of 300. IQAir, a Swiss technology company operating the AirVisual monitoring platform, had conducted the air quality evaluation.
This prompted the Provincial Cabinet of Punjab to declare smog as calamity under section 3 of “The Punjab National Calamities (Prevention & Relief), Act 1958”.