Pollution crackdown

The City District Government Lahore (CDGL) has moved rather swiftly in attempt to mitigate environmental pollution hovering over Lahore that causes heavy smog, poor visibility, and various health concerns among children and adults every year. A ban on factories without emissions control practices has been established with some factories having been ordained to shut down operations altogether. While the stringency is good news for Lahore’s atmosphere, the two-month grace period given to factories to implement pollution control measures is quite harsh. A major undertaking such as this should be supportive of factories installing emissions control equipment, and the government, instead of pressurizing industrialists, should encourage and facilitate them in installing the best and most effective equipment that would prove worthy in the long-term. Such an issue of high national importance cannot be discussed superficially and measures executed haphazardly for the matter requires deep thought and input by environmental experts and policymakers to institute practices that will be suitable for decades to come.

This is not to say that the quick government action is unwelcome. It is an important matter because the live of Pakistan’s 182 million people are in danger, on account of inhaling noxious air. The pollution is also affecting the foods we eat, and considering the axiomatic saying, “we are what we eat,” the pollution is impacting us in more than one way, paving the way for genetic mutations for our future generations. Also, with recent trade and industry boosts, now is an opportune moment to implement environmental protection laws with boldly outlined consequences for factories that do not follow them. Environmental impact should be a part of health and safety training to spread awareness among all levels of factory workers because they are all stakeholders in creating a greener Pakistan. The need for measures such as the ones CDGL has introduced is twofold: one, because for any nation, human health and safety must be a top priority and two, because all citizens should bear the responsibility of contributing towards keeping one’s environment as green as possible.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 14^th, 2016.

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