LAHORE: In view of persistent deterioration in Air Quality Index (AQI) of Lahore city, Punjab Relief Commissioner Babar Hayat Tarar has banned the entry of public service vehicles in the city without valid fitness certificates issued by the Vehicle Inspection and Certificate System (VICS).

The relief commissioner states that the Lahore’s AQI was fluctuating from “satisfactory” to “poor” levels, which is likely to cause breathing discomfort, respiratory tract and heart diseases amongst people in all age brackets.

The Punjab cabinet has already declared smog as a calamity.

He says that manual vehicle inspections shall be suspended for three months till March 22 next across Punjab. All public service vehicles will now be required to obtain fitness certificate from the respective VICS stations.

The traffic police has been asked to impound the documents of public service vehicles found playing without valid fitness certificates and forward the same to the Regional Transport Authority (RTA) secretary concerned for release after verification of their fitness certificates.

Published in Dawn, December 25th, 2021