LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) has ordered closure of schools from December 23 to January 4 nullifying National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC) decision to hold winter vacations in educational institutions from last week of January 2022.
LHC took a final verdict during smog case hearing and announced that the decision of closure of schools has been taken while considering the hazardous effects of smog in the city. According to the public prosecutor, notification regarding the closure of schools will be issued soon. The court further remarked that the decision will help in the reduction of the effects of smog.
Moreover, Justice Shahid Karim adjourned the hearing on the petitions till next week. Earlier, Lahore High Court (LHC) had ordered the government to reconsider its decision of closing schools from December 20. Justice Shahid Karim said that if the government did not decide to close the schools then the court will pronounce its final verdict.
During smog case hearing, Justice Shahid Karim remarked that there were rising concerns over smog and steps would have to be taken immediately to control it. He said that the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) had not taken concrete steps to tackle the issue of smog.
LHC ordered to collect the fines from all the responsible persons within a week and said that no concession should be made regarding the recovery of fines. It is to be mentioned here that the National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC) on Wednesday had decided to hold winter vacations in educational institutions from last week of January 2022.
During the meeting, the recommendations collected from the provincial ministers were reviewed. The participants agreed on the closure of educational institutions in areas where heavy snowfall takes place. NCO also directed to continue the process of coronavirus vaccination across the country.
Earlier, all provincial and federal education ministries had decided to hold winter vacations in educational institutions from December 25 to January 5. However, final decision in this regard was to be taken by NCOC. Spokesperson for the Federal Ministry of Education said that recommendations were taken from all the provinces regarding the winter holidays. Moreover, the court directed to further improve traffic arrangements in Lahore for the reduction of smog.
