Such pollution can also cause neurological diseases and has proven to elevate the risk of heart attacks
KARACHI: Karachi used to be the city of lights — and now, it seems to have become a city of foul-smelling garbage. The situation continues to deteriorate since the government and residents so often burn heaps of garbage in the open air. Instead of getting rid of it, all the waste, after burning up, fuses with the air we breathe.
An estimated 40 to 50 per cent of the garbage contains carbon. The most dangerous product of burning waste is dioxin, which is a major cause of lung cancer. Here in Karachi, the concentration of this deadly compound is alarmingly high. Such pollution can also cause neurological diseases and has proven to elevate the risk of heart attacks. I would like to urge the provincial and federal governments to take immediate measures for the betterment of the city.
Sania Iftikhar
Published in The Express Tribune, May 12th, 2016.
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