The Punjab Environment Protection Agency (EPA) has launched an aggressive crackdown on commercial cooking points ahead of the smog season, warning that no restaurant, marriage hall or other commercial food outlet will be allowed to operate without complying with requirements for effective suction hood systems aimed at controlling kitchen emissions.
The move forms a key part of the EPA’s pre-smog arrangements, with the agency focusing on emissions from commercial cooking activities before the onset of the smog season. Rather than waiting for air quality to deteriorate, the department is moving to identify and regulate such emission sources in advance.
According to the latest EPA figures, 1,875 commercial cooking points have been identified across Punjab, while 1,363 units have been visited during the ongoing enforcement drive. The action has so far resulted in 554 units being sealed, signalling a tougher approach towards establishments failing to meet the required environmental standards.
The EPA is specifically pushing for the installation and effective use of suction hoods at commercial cooking points to capture smoke, fumes and other emissions generated during cooking. The objective is to prevent these emissions from being released directly into the surrounding environment, particularly in densely populated urban areas.
EPA Director General Abdullah Nayyar Sheikh has issued strict directions to field formations to intensify inspections of commercial cooking points and ensure compliance with the suction-hood requirements. He has made it clear that restaurants, marriage halls and other food businesses cannot be permitted to continue operations while ignoring measures designed to control their kitchen emissions.
The DG has directed officers to ensure that enforcement is carried out effectively at field level, with particular emphasis on identifying establishments that have failed to adopt the required emission-control arrangements. He has also stressed that the pre-smog drive must produce tangible results before the seasonal deterioration in air quality begins.
Secretary Environment Protection and Climate Change Department Silwat Saeed has stressed that controlling emissions at source is central to the province’s pre-smog strategy. She has directed the relevant teams to accelerate implementation of environmental requirements and ensure that commercial cooking points are brought into compliance well before the peak smog period.
The scale of the drive is evident from the district-wise identification of cooking points. Gujranwala accounts for 500 identified cooking points, the highest in Punjab, followed by Rawalpindi with 250, Faisalabad with 135 and Multan with 120.
Other districts with identified cooking points include Taxila Rawalpindi with 70, Sheikhupura 66, Toba Tek Singh 62, Nankana Sahib 53, Chakwal 48, Pakpattan 47, Kasur 45 and Jhang 42. The figures demonstrate the widespread presence of commercial cooking activities requiring environmental controls across the province.
EPA spokesman Sajid Bashir said the department had adopted a zero-tolerance approach towards commercial cooking points that fail to control their kitchen emissions.
He said the suction-hood campaign was being pursued as an important component of the EPA’s pre-smog preparations, adding that field teams were actively checking commercial cooking points and taking enforcement action wherever environmental requirements were being ignored.
“Commercial establishments cannot be allowed to release kitchen emissions unchecked into the atmosphere,” Mr Bashir said, adding that the department’s focus was on ensuring that emission-control measures were actually implemented rather than remaining merely on paper.
He said the EPA would continue inspections of restaurants, marriage halls and other commercial food establishments and would take action against those failing to comply with the prescribed requirements.
The spokesman further said that the department’s objective was to control emissions before the smog season, rather than wait until hazardous air-quality conditions had already developed. He added that the identification of 1,875 cooking points provided the department with a clear enforcement framework for bringing commercial kitchen emissions under control.
With 1,363 inspections already carried out and 554 establishments sealed, the EPA has signalled that the suction-hood campaign will be pursued as a serious pre-smog enforcement measure, with commercial cooking points expected to meet environmental requirements before being allowed to continue operations.
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