LAHORE, Aug 2: The special squads of the Environment Protection Department have sealed 61 tyre warehouses and junkyards and issued 391 notices to other warehouses and scrapyard owners in the city for not adopting the measures prescribed to avert dengue during the last two months.

EPD Secretary Saeed Wahla, along with Special Assistant to Chief Minister on Environment Manshaullah Butt, conducted surprise visits at Fasial Town and Johar Town areas and sealed a tyre godown for keeping tyres under open sky. Three other tyre shops were issued notices at Johar Town, says a press release.

The Punjab government had assigned the task to the EPD to identify and eliminate dengue breeding sites. The EPD secretary constituted four squads under the supervision of deputy directors to inspect the tyre warehouses, scrapyards, nurseries and under-construction buildings so that dengue breeding sites could be eliminated.

The squads inspected 915 places in Lahore’s nine towns, including 596 tyre shops/warehouses, 152 junkyards, 65 nurseries and 102 under-construction sites. Of the total 61 tyre warehouses and junkyards, 14 were sealed in Allama Iqbal Town, 22 in Data Ganj Bakhsh Town, 10 in Gulberg Town, four in Nishter Town, 14 in Ravi Town and three in Aziz Bhatti Town.

Mr Wahla said the government had been utilising all its resources to defeat dengue virus. He said the environment department would continue this practice till elimination of dengue breeding grounds.