The caretaker Punjab government has once again decided against declaring Wednesday as a holiday for schools.

Earlier, there was a proposal under consideration to shut down schools and markets on Wednesday. However, after the improvement in the Air Quality Index (AQI) due to rain, the proposal was rejected.

Now, due to the ongoing smog crisis in the provincial capital, there have been calls for declaring a mid-week break in schools. However, the Caretaker Minister for Environment and Planning Bilal Afzal, has once again ruled out any such possibility for now.

The Punjab Cabinet Committee members met for the second time in this regard but none of them were in favour of an extra off day. According to the committee, the authorities were taking strict measures to curb smog.

According to City Traffic Police (CTO), thousands of smoky vehicles have been impounded, while more than 7,000 have been fined.

Lahore continues to top the list of the world’s most polluted cities as the AQI was recently recorded at a ‘hazardous’ level of 510. The provincial capital’s most polluted areas were reported to be The Mall Road, followed by the Polo Ground in Cantt and the Lahore American school area.

Source: Pro Pakistani