10 brick kilns sealed in Hassanabdal.

TAXILA -- The local administration has sealed as many as 10 brick kilns here in Hassanabdal for emitting excessive smoke in order to control smog during the winter season.

These kilns were sealed in Burhan, Khuda, Ghershen, Pathargarh and adjacent areas during a crackdown on the brick kilns polluting the environment as well as creating smog.

Cases have also been registered and fines imposed on the kiln owners as smog has been declared as a calamity under the Punjab National Calamities (prevention and relief) Act, 1958.

Sources said that a team of local administration led by assistant commissioner Arif Qureshi along with Environment Protection Department (EPD) launched the crackdown as the provincial government had decided to shut down all brick kilns by Dec 31 in south Punjab at the advent of winter.

The assistant commissioner told mediapersons that the kiln owners had been asked repeatedly to install the...