LAHORE (Tuesday – November 07, 2017):  Punjab Higher Education Department (PHED) has circulated the Policy on Controlling Smog 2017 to all public-sector universities of the province to help cope up with the ongoing unhealthy weather conditions.

The regional director of Met Office Ajmal Shah said that the Smog will be continue in Punjab the whole month of November as there is no chance of rain in Province;  the rain producing system is expected to develop in the coming two weeks, will largely be restricted to upper parts of the country.

According to a document available with The Educationist, the policy formed by the Punjab Environment Protection Department (PEPA) based on five basic guidelines including:

1. It may be ensured that during smog no physical activity takes place and outdoor sports in public universities may be stopped.
2. The students and faculty may be encouraged to use FACE MASKS.
3. They may be asked to frequently wash their face specially eyes.
4. Do not touch their eyes, mouth or nose with dirty hands.
5. Save your environment from dust & noise pollution.

The documents issued by PHED Deputy Secretary General Tariq Hameed Bhatti states that the Punjab experiences periods of low visibility due to fog, mist and smog between November and February each year for an average of 10 to 25 days. In recent years, however, the situation is exacerbating as it causes a sensation of burning of eyes and foul smell. Data shows that this is regional phenomenon, covering large areas of South Asia from Delhi to Faisalabad and beyond. Various studies have linked it to the burning of rice stubbles in the Indian state of Punjab. Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, during 2016 alone around 32M tons of rice stubbles were estimated to be burn in Indian Punjab. Local sources of pollution, however, also had their own contribution to this situation.

The Environmental Protection Agency has suggested various measures to control this environmental problem:

1. Introduction of low sulphur fuels
2. Adopting Euro-II standards for vehicular emission
3. Installation of vehicular pollution control devices
4. Better traffic management
5. Controlling burning of municipal waste and crop residue
6. Greening of industrial processes
7. Building capacity to monitor and forecast episodes of high air pollution
8. Creation of wood land in and around major cities
9. Planned urban and industrial development
10. Controlling fugitive dust from road shoulders and construction sites
11. Regional environmental agreement

ACTION TO COMBAT SMOG IN PUNJAB