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The purpose of this paper is to study the environmental indicators of an ISO 14001:2004 certified thermal power plant located at Raiwind road Lahore.

The research study included employee interviews, noise monitoring, effluent and ground water sampling, stack emission testing, and assessment of the solid waste management system.

Semi-structured interviews randomly conducted with employees showed a 57 percent environmental awareness response. The stack emission results showed that the nitrogen oxide (NOx) from engine no. 5 and 7 was 2,447 and 2,624 mg/Nm³, respectively, higher than the World Bank limit of 2,300 mg/Nm³ as well as exceeding the 600 mg/Nm³ set by the National Environmental Quality Standards (NEQS) with no emission control technology in place. The ground water and effluent samples were found unfit for irrigation purposes. Electrical conductivity exceeded the permissible level of Directorate of Land Reclamation (DLR) irrigation water quality criteria of 1.5 dS/m. Similarly, the sodium absorption ratio (SAR) exceeded 10 mmolc/l. Residual sodium carbonate was more than the DLR permissible level of 2.5 me/l. The noise level in the engine hall was 103 dB(A) which is beyond the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s permissible exposure limit of 90 dB(A) and the NEQS for industrial area at day time, i.e. 75 dB(A).

The research analysis shows that environmental survey may serve as an example for other power plants to review their environmental policy and be more vigilant as an environmentally conscious organization.

This paper underscores an easy understanding and evaluation of environmental indicators that are minor but neglected in a thermal power plant. The sampling, testing, and employee awareness are crucial to gauge the level of an organization’s conformity with the international quality, occupational health, and environmental standards.

Public library’s core function is to meet the changing needs of challenging users by providing access to library collection and services. This study aims to explore the current status of public libraries’ collection, services, users, staff, physical facilities and IT infrastructure in Punjab, the most populous province of Pakistan. It further investigates the problems faced by these public libraries and puts forward practical solution.

This is a quantitative study based on questionnaire survey. A semi-structured questionnaire was designed to collect data. In total, 21 Library and Information Science graduates were employed to ensure the physical visit of all 176 public libraries in 36 districts of the province.

The findings revealed that with a few exceptions, public libraries were mostly in a poor condition. Absence of professional staff, out-dated collections, dilapidated library buildings and lack of IT infrastructure were the major issues prevailing in the libraries. Furthermore, little interest of political leadership and higher authorities is observed in the development of public library system.

This data will be helpful for policy and decision makers to plan and develop human resources, physical facilities and IT infrastructure in libraries. Findings may facilitate higher authorities for designing better services and strengthening public library system in the province.

This is a baseline study on public libraries’ status in the province. It aims to fill the gap by identifying total number of existing public libraries and exploring their current status along with the problems faced by these libraries.