ISLAMABAD: The government in Pakistan’s eastern Punjab province on Thursday banned washing cars at home, saying that it would impose a fine of Rs10,000 [$35.75] on violators as it seeks to implement a high court’s earlier directive to conserve water.
The Environmental Protection Agency Punjab issued the directives in compliance with an order by the Lahore High Court (LHC) last Friday banning the washing of cars at home and directed authorities to consider imposing a fine of $35.57 on violators.
The high court also directed that filling stations without water treatment plants should be sealed with an initial warning, followed by a fine of Rs100,000 [$357.50].
The directives came after the court heard several petitions related to ineffective measures by officials against smog, local media reports said.
“Ban on the use of water for washing of cars and use of hose pipes in the houses,” a notification from the EPA said. “Anyone found in violation of these directions will be imposed a fine of Rs.10,000.”
The provincial agency also banned oil washing of vehicles, and ordered immediate closure of all illegal/unapproved car wash and service stations in the province in compliance with the court’s orders.
“Mandatory installation of carwash wastewater recycling system and U-Channels at all Car wash Stations by 28th February, 2025,” the notification said.
“In case the petrol pumps are found to be lacking in their obligations in this regard, fine of Rs. 100,000/- shall be imposed on the defaulting petrol pumps, in addition to sealing of car wash area.”
The notification cited an earlier warning by the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) in which it had highlighted that Punjab had experienced 42 percent below normal rainfall from Sept. 1, 2024, to Jan. 15, 2025.
The PMD had said that Sindh, Balochistan and Punjab were the most affected provinces where rainfall deficits of 52 percent, 45 percent, and 42 percent, respectively, have been recorded.
Water-stressed Pakistan has a population of 241.49 million people with a growth rate of 2.55 percent. Linked to that, per capita water availability has been on a downward trend for decades.
In 1947, when Pakistan was created, the figure stood at about 5,000 cubic meters per person, according to the World Bank. Today it is 1,000 cubic meters.
It will decline further with the population expected to double in the next 50 years, climate change experts say, pointing out that Pakistan needs intervention on a range of water-related issues: from the impact of climate change to hydropower, from transboundary water-sharing to irrigated and rain-fed agriculture, and from drinking water to sanitation.
