Environmental concerns: The ‘powerless’ and the ‘negligent’

Brick kilns, industries continue to choke capital as environment minister deplores CDA’s lack of action.

ISLAMABAD:

The Ministry of Environment has been under fire for its failure to check the operations of polluting industries and brick kilns in the residential areas of Islamabad.

Minister for Environment, Samina Khalid Ghurki, during the question hour in the National Assembly on Thursday, conceded to this problem.

She said that it is a fact that the steel mills and brick kilns established in the residential areas of the capital and its suburbs are causing environmental pollution in the area.

Apart from inaction by the ministry, Capital Development Authority (CDA) has also shelved its plan to relocate hundreds of industries and brick kilns presently functioning in the residential areas and around the red zone of Benazir Bhutto International Airport.

Blaming the civic body, Ghurki said that CDA, in violation of the Supreme Court’s verdict on July 5 last year, did not take action against industries that were causing pollution in residential sectors of I-9 and I-10.

The civic body had earlier proposed that the industrial zone be shifted to sector I-17. But CDA board members, keeping parliamentary committees, superior courts and the people in darkness, voted against the proposal.

Around 800 industries are working in three different residential sectors of the city. Of these, 500 industries are function in the I sectors of the city.

The minister said that there are nine steel furnaces causing pollution in Sector I-9 and I-10. She said, “Despite strict monitoring and threats of legal action, the furnaces are not controlling their emissions adequately.” The ministry also asked CDA to identify an alternate site to shift the steel furnaces to, she said, adding that the authority is yet to respond.

But the ministry has not failed on all counts. Ghurki said that a Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency monitoring team visited Al-Hadeed Industries in Islamabad on June 23 last year and found that the anti-pollution equipment installed there was not working properly.

The owner gave an undertaking to shut down operations till the plant is repaired and upgraded, she added. Moreover, the minister said that an environment protection tribunal has fined two steel mills Rs50, 000 each.

Brick kilns

Out of the 12 brick kilns very close to the airport, five brick kilns have now stopped operation, while cases of seven kilns were referred to an environmental tribunal for trial, the minister said. Construction of a model brick kiln unit based on Vertical Shaft Brick Kiln technology is underway with the assistance of Swiss authorities, she added.

The minister said, “Brick Kiln Association is keen to switch over to the new technology once it is successfully demonstrated for operation in Pakistan.”

Responding to a question, Ghurki said the environment ministry has worked out a three-phase programme to relocate brick kilns from Islamabad. In the first phase, Zone IV and V and brick kilns located in the red zone (very close to the airport) will be shifted. About 43 brick kilns fall in this category and 27 brick kilns have already been dismantled.

In the second phase, about 20 brick kilns located between red zone and outer periphery of Islamabad Capital Territory, away from the airport, will be asked to move.

According to Environmental Protection Tribunal orders, brick kilns located within a radius of 12 kilometres around the airport will have to be shifted elsewhere, while those located outside the 12km radius but within 20 km of the airport will have to install a smoke control device. The entire process is to be completed within three months.

In the third phase, Zone II and III brick kilns on the outer periphery of ICT will be shifted. About 50 brick kilns fall in this category.



Published in The Express Tribune, April 29^th, 2011.