Pakistani motorcyclists ride along a street amid heavy smog in Lahore. Photo: AFP

LAHORE/ PESHAWAR: Many areas of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa continue to remain enveloped in smog, leading to the suspension of traffic at the sections of Motorway road on Friday.

In view of avoiding traffic accidents due to low visibility, the motorway (M1) is closed for traffic from the Peshawar to Swabi, (M3) from Pindi Bhattiyan to Faisalabad, meanwhile, heavy traffic is suspended on motorway (M2) section from Lahore to Lillah interchange.

A number of domestic and international flights from and to Lahore have been suspended.

Besides, train schedules have also been affected amid low visibility caused by smog. The trains have been arriving four to 13 hours later than their scheduled time.

So far, accidents caused due to smog have claimed many lives and left a number of people injured in Punjab.

On November 7, one person was killed, many others injured as vehicles bumped into each other in accidents caused Tuesday due to smog.

Six vehicles crashed into each other near Pindi Bhattian, leaving one dead and six others injured. On the other hand, 20 vehicles collided with each other near Faisalabad-Sial road, injuring many.

Smog policy

Chief Justice of Lahore High Court Syed Mansoor Ali Shah has ordered the secretary environment to inform the court about steps being taken to control the prevailing smog, reported The News.

The chief justice also directed the secretary to give the action plan regarding tree plantation. The chief justice observed that due to urban development hundreds of trees had been cut in Lahore which had contributed to pollution levels to exponential height.

During the proceeding on petitions of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Lahore President Barrister Walid Iqbal and others on Monday, the chief justice directed the secretary environment Saif Anjum to appear within 30 minutes in the courtroom. Saif Anjum appeared and submitted notified smog policy signed by the chief minister. He said the law secretary had notified the smog policy in the official gazette.

Moreover, six air monitoring stations have been made functional to determine how much India was contributing to smog spillover effects in Punjab. He said that at present there was no scientific data available to determine air pollution level.

Petitioner counsel Sheraz Zaka had submitted that in 1952 the great smog was faced by London which thereafter implemented environmental laws and in 1956 implemented Clean Air Act 1956. He argued that in order to curb air and noise pollution during the tenure of Margaret Thatcher, former British prime minister, coal industry in entire Britain was closed off. He had said that in Pakistan, the reason behind the smog was the lack of enforcement of environmental laws and dysfunctional central laboratory in Lahore which is due to the negligence of Punjab environmental protection agency.

He had submitted that the government had not taken any adequate awareness measures among the public.