LAHORE: The Environment Protection Department (EPD) on Friday unsealed some furnaces and steel melting and re-rolling mills after receiving assurances from the owners that they will apply necessary apparatus to control hazardous emissions.

The department had sealed around 55 such units in Lahore district besides a few others in Sheikhupura and Gujranwala for `causing smog`.

An official said some units had been unsealed after the district officer (environment) got written assurances from the owners to install or make scrubbers functional to control toxic emissions leading to air pollution.

Meanwhile, PakistanSteel Melters Association (PSMA) Patron-in-Chief Azizur Rehman Chan and Chairman Mian Ahmad Hassan appreciated the decision of the chief minister to reopen closed furnaces to avoid a crisis for the steel industry.

In a statement issued here on Friday, they said the decision not only saved many labourers from unemployment, but also saved the sector from price fluctuation, as there were possibilities of increase in price of belts and associated products of the industry.

They claimed the furnaces were not polluting environment, but traffic was causing environment hazards.

Chan said it was encouraging that the government had given two months for the installation of air cleaners instead of sealing units.