RAWALPINDI: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Thursday sealed 27 stone crushers, five brick kilns and impounded 51 vehicles on the charges of polluting the environment in its drive against violation of standard operating procedure (SOPs) regarding smog control during October 2021.
The team comprising EPA Deputy Director Muhammad Rafique, inspectors Inamul Haq, Maqbool Hussain, Amanullah and Ata Muhammad, while taking action against polluting vehicles, brick kilns and stone crushers in various parts of the district, checked 58 stone crushers in the areas of Taxila, Wah Cantt and sealed 27 on violating SOPs.
The teams checked 72 brick kilns in Gujjar Khan, Girja and Dhok Hamida and sealed five besides registering first information reports against four of them.
A fine of Rs 700,000 was also imposed on nine kilns, he added.
Similarly, EPA teams inspected nine hospitals and issued notices to two for not following the SOPs regarding disposal of hospital’s waste.
The teams also checked 873 vehicles and challanad 141, emitting smoke beyond the prescribed limits of Punjab Environmental Quality Standards and imposed a fine amounting to Rs 54,500.
“51 vehicles were impounded during the checking which was found spreading pollution mainly due to substandard fuel consumption and improper maintenance of vehicle engines and silencers’, an official of EPA said.
He informed that during checking of industrial units, the teams sealed two units, including ZAK steel mill and Win steel mill, in the area of Rawat while inspecting 23 units.