LAHORE: The Lahore High Court has extended the business hours for the restaurants and eateries, allowing them to operate till 11pm whole week.

However, the home delivery services of the eateries will be permitted till 12:30am, says a written order of the last week hearing in the matter by Justice Shahid Karim.

The order says the timings for the restaurants have been modified after hearing the point of view of the association of the restaurants and the members of a water and environment commission.

Previously, the judge had ordered the restaurants to close by 10pm on the first four days of the week, and by 11pm on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

The judge directed the management of a mega shopping mall in Johar Town to share a compliance report about development of Miyawaki forest and a butterfly park in the designated areas of the mall. He directed a government law officer to take up with the irrigation secretary a matter relating to provision of supplementary funds to the Rural Water Supply scheme in Chichawatni tehsil of Sahiwal district.

The law officer was directed to contact the environment secretary regarding preparation of a report about the assistance to be rendered by the government of Beijing to control smog, for onward transmission to the Punjab chief secretary. The report will also be shared with the federal government.

It is to mention that the high court had ordered the district administration to ensure early closure of the markets and the restaurants as a measure to control smog.

Published in Dawn, February 2nd, 2023