‘Departmental coordination necessary to deal with smog’

LAHORE: The Environment Protection and Climate Change Department (EP&CCD) Punjab is stepping up efforts to tackle air pollution through better inter-departmental coordination, department officials revealed.

Secretary EP&CCD Raja Jahangir Anwar and Director General EPA Punjab Imran Hamid Sheikh along with Parliamentary Secretary for Environment and Climate Change Ms Kanwal Liaquat visited the Regional Meteorological Center (RMC) Lahore on Tuesday. Officials of Pakistan Meteorological Department and RMC Lahore briefed the delegation about their operations, highlighting that RMC Punjab has all Surface Observatories, Meteorological Offices, Agricultural Meteorological Stations, Seismic Stations and Automatic Weather Stations (AWS). Monitors.

The meeting reached consensus to establish a robust framework for data sharing, model forecasting, and collaboration. The initiative aims to improve Punjab’s ability to effectively and sustainably address air quality challenges.

The delegation also visited the Weather System Observatory to witness firsthand the process of data recording and analysis. During the discussion, Secretary Raja Jahangir proposed to analyze the weather patterns of Lahore for the last 25 years to identify the increasing trends in smog and air pollution. He highlighted the recent expansion of the department’s air quality monitoring network, with 8 new air quality monitoring stations installed in Lahore and 30 new air quality monitoring stations across Punjab. Director General, EPA Punjab, Imran Hamid Shaikh emphasized the need for actionable insights through collaboration and said, “Developing predictive models in partnership with key stakeholders to address the emerging challenges of air pollution. This initiative will provide actionable insights needed to improve public health and environmental resilience.