In lieu of local needs: K-P’s environment protection draft ready to be tabled

DG EPA says the act has been formulated according to province’s needs.

PESHAWAR:

A draft of the provincial environment protection act has been completed by the environment protection agency (EPA) which the agency aims to present in the provincial assembly in its up coming session.

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) EPA Director General Dr Muhammad Bashir Khan told The Express Tribune the process of formulating the act had been initiated when the subject was transferred to the province after the 18th Amendment.



Khan shared several significant changes have been brought to the act according to the environmental complications of the province “The draft is now ready and is expected to be presented in the coming session of the K-P Assembly,” said the DG.

The proposed draft provides for the establishment of a “provincial environmental protection council” which will be headed by the chief minister (CM) and comprise 14 secretaries and 10 outsiders, including renowned professors and environment experts, who will advise the government in its efforts to preserve the environment.

“It will give guidelines and an experts’ view on environmental protection,” said Khan.

The draft also proposes an “environmental endowment fund” to help formulate small projects for saving the environment. The fund will be generated from heavy fines imposed by violators of environmental rules.

Moreover, the draft law will bring previously untouched small industries such as brick kilns, poultry farms, marble and stone crushing units into the fold of official environmental monitoring. “These industries are growing in number and creating a lot of environmental issues,” said Khan.

Once the law is passed, all large-scale projects will need a strategic environment assessment before being launched. In case individuals and organisations are found violating sections of the proposed law, heavy fines will be imposed until the violations are stemmed and fixed. “This will make the violators fix the problem immediately otherwise they will pay the fine and continue their hazardous practice(s) as is the case normally,” stated Khan.

The DG said Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan launched the ‘Green Growth Initiative’ last month which aims to tackle climate change head-on. “We have to devise a policy that also fulfils our international obligations as we have more than a dozen environment protection-related agreements with the world. Now that the subject is with the provinces, we don’t want to lag behind and will take efficient steps in this regard,” said Khan.

The budget for EPA’s regional offices in Abbottabad, DI Khan and Swat has already been approved by K-P CM Pervez Khattak. These offices, which will be headed by assistant directors, will later be established in Kohat, Bannu and Mardan and will provide easy access to the public to lodge complaints related to environmental hazards.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 17^th, 2014.