LAHORE, Dec 14 (FD): Lahore High Court has ordered the authorities to close markets and restaurants by 10:00 pm in Lahore to control worsening air quality.
Justice Shahid Karim of LHC issued the direction while hearing the plea seeking court’s intervention to curb intense air pollution in the city of gardens.
As per the ruling, the restaurants are allowed to close at 11 pm on weekends while the judge ordered strict action against schools opening on Fridays.
The hearing has been adjourned till December 19.
As per the court order, markets and eateries have to close at 10pm from Monday to Thursday. The court gave relief of one hour on the closure of restaurants on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays and said that on these three days restaurants can be closed at 11pm, while markets should not be closed at 10pm on Sunday.
The court said that implementation over these orders has to be monitored.
Justice Karim remarked during the hearing that the sky was much better this morning and that there has been some reduction in the smog.
The next hearing of the case will be held on December 19.
Air pollution has worsened in Pakistan in recent years, as a mixture of low-grade diesel fumes, smoke from seasonal crop burn off, and colder winter temperatures coalesce into stagnant clouds of smog.
Lahore, a bustling megacity of more than 11 million people in Punjab province near the border with India, consistently ranks among the worst cities in the world for air pollution.
In recent years residents have built their own air purifiers and taken out lawsuits against government officials in desperate bids to clean the air — but authorities have been slow to act, blaming the smog on India or claiming the figures are exaggerated.
