ISLAMABAD: The provincial administration of Punjab on Monday decided to shut down schools and private offices in Lahore for three days a week until January 15 to deal with the worsening smog situation in the city.
Lahore was recently declared as one of the world’s most polluted places by an international air quality monitoring platform, as the residents of the eastern Pakistani city complained of health issues and breathing difficulties.
An official notification circulated by the provincial authorities acknowledged the deteriorating air quality in Lahore, saying there was “sufficient ground” to proceed under The Punjab National Calamities (Prevention & Relief) Act 1958 to ensure public safety.
“All private offices being operated by companies, private sector entities and other individuals, within the territorial limits of Lahore Metropolitan Corporation, shall remain closed on every Monday, in addition to Saturday and Sunday, with effect from 27.11.2021 until 15.1.2022,” the notification read. “However, their staff may work from home.”
The provincial administration issued a similar directive for all “public and private educational institutions” in the city, instructing them not ask their students to come on Saturday, Sunday and Monday while allowing these institutes to “arrange virtual classes.”
Smog begins to engulf Lahore and its adjoining settlements every year during winter season.
Pakistan’s top climate change official Malik Amin Aslam recently told a private news channel that 40 percent of it was caused by the transportation sector, as he emphasized the need to move toward better quality fuel and electric vehicles.
He also mentioned crop burning that has become a norm during the season, though he noted that 90 percent of such cases were taking place in India.
Aslam hinted at the possibility of relying on artificial rain to address the challenge of smog in the coming years, adding that Pakistani authorities were already studying the cloud-seeding technology developed in the United Arab Emirates for that purpose.
Punjab orders closure of schools, private workplaces on Mondays as smog situation worsens in Lahore
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Punjab orders closure of schools, private workplaces on Mondays as smog situation worsens in Lahore
- An official notification circulated by the provincial administration acknowledge the deteriorating air quality in the eastern Pakistani city
- The notification says there is ‘sufficient ground’ to proceed under The Punjab National Calamities Act to ensure public safety by taking appropriate measures
Pakistan PM orders accelerated privatization of power sector to tackle losses
- Tenders to be issued for privatization of three major electricity distribution firms, PMO says
- Sharif says Pakistan to develop battery energy storage through public-private partnerships
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s prime minister on Monday directed the government to speed up privatization of state-owned power companies and improve electricity infrastructure nationwide, as authorities try to address deep-rooted losses and inefficiencies in the energy sector that have weighed on the economy and public finances.
Pakistan’s electricity system has long struggled with financial distress caused by a combination of factors including theft of power, inefficient collection of bills, high costs of generating electricity and a large burden of unpaid obligations known as “circular debt.” In the first quarter of the current financial year, government-owned distribution companies recorded losses of about Rs171 billion ($611 million) due to poor bill recovery and operational inefficiencies, official documents show. Circular debt in the broader power sector stood at around Rs1.66 trillion ($5.9 billion) in mid-2025, a sharp decline from past peaks but still a major fiscal drain.
Efforts to contain these losses have been a focus of Pakistan’s economic reform program with the International Monetary Fund, which has urged structural changes in the energy sector as part of financing conditions. Previous government initiatives have included signing a $4.5 billion financing facility with local banks to ease power sector debt and reducing retail electricity tariffs to support economic recovery.
“Electricity sector privatization and market-based competition is the sustainable solution to the country’s energy problems,” Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said at a meeting reviewing the roadmap for power sector reforms, according to a statement from the prime minister’s office.
The meeting reviewed progress on privatization and infrastructure projects. Officials said tenders for modernizing one of Pakistan’s oldest operational hubs, Rohri Railway Station, will be issued soon and that the Ghazi Barotha to Faisalabad transmission line, designed to improve long-distance transmission of electricity, is in the initial approval stages. While not all power-sector decisions were detailed publicly, the government emphasized expanding private sector participation and completing priority projects to strengthen the electricity grid.
In another key development, the prime minister endorsed plans to begin work on a battery energy storage system with participation from private investors to help manage fluctuations in supply and demand, particularly as renewable energy sources such as solar and wind take a growing role in generation. Officials said the concept clearance for the storage system has been approved and feasibility studies are underway.
Government briefing documents also outlined steps toward shifting some electricity plants from imported coal to locally mined Thar coal, where a railway line expansion is underway to support transport of fuel, potentially lowering costs and import dependence in the long term.
State authorities also pledged to address safety by converting unmanned railway crossings to staffed ones and to strengthen food safety inspections at stations, underscoring broader infrastructure and service improvements connected to energy and transport priorities.
