Caretaker Minister for Environment, Planning and Forests Punjab Bilal Afzal has said that all possible steps would be taken to make Punjab a green and clean province and to remove obstacles in that way. He was presiding over a meeting on Wednesday at the conference room of the Environmental protection department here. The Secretary Environment briefed the Provincial Minister on departmental performance and presented issues being faced. Bilal Afzal directed the relevant departments to initiate timely and effective measures to tackle the big issue of smog in Punjab, especially the monitoring of the industries causing pollution should be tightened. He also emphasized that the goals of the Green Punjab Development Program funded by the World Bank should be completed timely. He assured that the uniform of the enforcement staff of the environment department would got be approved at the earliest and the provision of environment operational vehicles and smoke measuring devices would be made possible. The provincial minister said that an endowment fund is being established to reduce the pollution of industries, through which more and more industries will be made environment-friendly by giving funds to small industrialists. Earlier, Environment Secretary Sajid Chauhan told the meeting that during the last four months, several rules and laws have been approved including Clean Air Policy, Plastic Management Strategy and Smog Control Rules. He said that the caretaker government had provided ample legal cover to the environment department by passing several new rules and laws, which would make it easier for the department to take coersive action against law-breaking elements.
