The Punjab government has divided winter vacations in schools into two phases as it filed its response in the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesday which was hearing a case relating to smog, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

As per the notification submitted in the court, the Punjab government said in the first phase winter vacations in 24 smog-affected districts will be observed from December 23 to January 6, 2022 and the government and private schools will be closed down. These districts included Lahore, Kasur, Gujranwala, Sheikhupura, Sahiwal, Multan, Sargodha, Sialkot and Faisalabad.

In the second phase, winter vacations will be observed in 12 other districts of Lahore from January 3, 2022, to January 13, 2022. These districts included Jhelum, Mianwali, Attock, Muzaffargarh, Chakwal, Bhakkar, Rawalpindi, Rajanpur, Layyah, Rahimyar Khan, Dera Ghazi Khan and Chiniot.

Justice Shahid Karim, later, adjourned the hearing of the case until December 23.

Reporter Malik Ashraf