LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Friday put a complete ban on felling of trees in the provincial metropolis as a major step towards curbing smog.

Justice Shahid Karim further ordered the Punjab government to introduce a piece of legislation to criminalise the felling of trees.

The judge heard multiple identical petitions of public interest pending for long on the issues of environment and water pollution. He observed that the air quality index and the situation of smog in Lahore were below par.

He restrained the Environment Protection Department from issuing a no objection certificate to cut trees for any development project in the city.

A law officer told the court that the caretaker Punjab government had issued a working paper seeking assistance from the Beijing government to control smog.

The judge directed the law officer to expedite the process and share the working paper with the Chinese counterparts through the federal government.

Justice Karim ordered the city traffic police to display emergency numbers on roads facing regular traffic jams so that the commuters could get latest information by making contacts. He also asked the police to adopt a policy of zero tolerance against violation of traffic rules.

The judge adjourned further hearing till Feb 17.

Published in Dawn, February 11th, 2023