Minister for joint efforts to curb pollution

LAHORE:Minister for Environment Muhammad Rizwan has said environment is a concern for all and everyone should play role for its betterment.

The minister said this in a meeting with CEOs of different brands in camp office of EPD here on Tuesday. He said public awareness about environment was very important and corporate sector should play its part in this. He said latest concepts like extended producers responsibility, circular economy, cleaner production and internationalisation of external environments costs, etc. have to be implemented for sustainable development. The minister stressed that environmental pollution was a global phenomena while every segment of society has to perform his proactive role to tackle this issue with the collaboration of the government.

He directed the representatives of multinational firms to make sure installation of smoke control devices in their transport and check fitness of their vehicles. The representatives of the companies assured the minister that they would adopt SOPs to prevent pollution and will provide full cooperation of the publication of the awareness messages.

6,277 kilns fined: Environment Protection Department (EPD) Punjab Monday imposed heavy fine on 6277 brick kilns across the province during its anti-smog campaign for not complying with zig-zag technology.

Officials said EPD teams inspected 6277 brick kilns across the Punjab from October 07, 2021 to November 28, 2021 during which they imposed a fine of Rs 47,879,920 on the kilns besides registering 865 FIRs and arresting 26 persons. During this period EPD teams also sealed 336 brick kilns for not implementing the zig-zag methodologies. The real difference between the traditional Fixed Chimney Bulls Trench Kiln (FCBTK) and the zig-zag technology-driven brick kiln was that in the former the placement of bricks was done in a straight pattern, whereas in the latter the bricks were placed in a zig-zag pattern, officials said adding the zig-zag pattern allowed to efficiently maneuver the air for heating purposes.

Furthermore, the black soot that comes out of the traditional brick kiln was due to inefficient burning of fuel whereas in zig-zag setting of bricks and continuous feeding of small quantities of coal improves fuel efficiency, officials said adding as a result, the smoke emitted from the kilns employing zig-zag technology was white and contained significantly low level of pollutants. The Induced-Draught zig-zag kiln type also has a fan, which allowed to control the air, thereby making the coal burning process even more efficient, they maintained.