Islamabad puts drivers on notice as winter smog crisis worsens

Truck driver Muhammad Afzal was not expecting to be stopped by police, let alone fined, as he drove into Islamabad this week because of the thick diesel fumes emanating from his exhaust pipe.

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"This is unfair," he said after being told to pay 1,000 rupees ($3.60), with the threat of having his truck impounded if he did not "fix" the problem.

"I was coming from Lahore after getting my vehicle repaired. They pressed the accelerator to make it release smoke. It's an injustice," he told AFP.

Checkpoints set up this month are part of a crackdown by authorities to combat the city's soaring smog levels, with winter months the worst due to atmospheric inversions that trap pollutants at ground level.

"We have already warned the owners of stern action, and we will stop their entry into the city if they don't comply with the orders," said Dr Zaigham Abbas of Pakistan's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), as he surveyed the checkpoint at the southeast edge of the capital.

For Waleed Ahmed, a technician inspecting the vehicles at the site, "just like a human being, a vehicle has a life cycle. Those that cross it release smoke that is dangerous to human health."