Faisalabad: The Faisalabad Think Tank has proposed installation of mist fans on electric polls along the Rakh Branch Canal in collaboration with the private sector to rein in the unbridled menace of smog.
Engineer Ahmad Hassan, former Vice President Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FCCI), expressed concern that smog had been disrupting normal life for the last many years during the winter season but no tangible proposal surfaced to control it.
He said that the government tried to contain it through costly experiments of artificial rain but it was not a permanent solution to the environmental phenomenon. He suggested a comprehensive business plan which could be implemented under public-private partnership mode to permanently settle this issue in addition to utilizing it during summer to bring down the temperature.
He said that business and commercial houses along the canal expressway could be motivated to fund and to own this project by utilizing water from the canal and electricity already a
vailable to the streetlight system of Faisalabad Development Authority (FDA) in addition to its repair and maintenance.
‘This system can be gradually converted to solar energy provided the police take responsibility to protect it and bear expenses in case of theft or intentional wear and tear of the system’, he said and added that initially it could be installed and made operational in front of willing business houses.
He further said that its scope could be further expanded to other areas in collaboration with civil society and environmentalists. He said that environment-friendly elements and organizations could be identified and motivated in collaboration with the Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FCCI) to participate in this project voluntarily.
A memorandum of understanding should also be inked clearly defining the responsibilities of district administration, police, FDA and irrigation department to keep this project operational on a permanent and sustained basis, he added.