Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz has warned officials in Okara and other districts over their failure to stop the burning of crop residue, and has ordered deputy commissioners across the province to ensure it comes to a complete halt.
The chief minister issued the direction on Thursday while chairing a meeting in Lahore to review the performance of deputy commissioners. She told the officers that the practice had to end, and singled out Okara among the districts where burning had not been prevented.
The warning follows a report published on this site on November 3, which found Okara at the top of Punjab’s crop-fire count, with 2,144 fire spots recorded across the province’s districts. Read that report here. Thursday’s meeting did not announce new figures; it was the failure to act on the existing problem that drew the chief minister’s criticism.
The meeting also reviewed the state of public hospitals. Deputy commissioners have been given three days to improve conditions, with daily visits by deputy commissioners and assistant commissioners and deep cleaning of hospital premises each day.
Several districts were praised at the same meeting for their performance, including Murree, Gujranwala, Attock, Bahawalpur, Chakwal, Jhelum, Layyah and Sahiwal. The contrast with the districts warned over crop burning was not spelled out in detail in the official account of the meeting.
No fines or arrests were announced in connection with Thursday’s warning. The chief minister’s direction was framed as an instruction to the district administration to enforce the ban, rather than as a new penalty regime.
Crop-residue burning is a major contributor to the smog that settles over Punjab each winter, and the provincial government has been under pressure to curb it before the season peaks. Further action by the district administrations will be reported here as it is announced.
