ICT motor vehicle examination officer post lying vacant

PAK-EPA official tells Senate panel country lacks effective vehicular emission testing system

A major source of pollution, motor vehicle emission, is going unchecked in the capital and the rest of the country, top official of the Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency (PAK-EPA) told sub-committee of the Senate Standing Committee on Climate Change.

PAK-EPA Director General Farzana Altaf Shah briefing the Senate panel said that Islamabad Capital Territory Administration (ICTA) had a dedicated post of motor vehicle examination officer which was lying idle as no work was done in that office.

Shah told the sub-committee that there was no effective system of vehicular emission testing in the country.

She made these remarks at the preliminary meeting of the sub-committee convened by Senator Muhammad Asad Ali Khan Junejo to work out the details for implementation of regular vehicle examination system.

"In the past Vehicular Emission Control programme has been implemented till 2000. We have portable vehicle exhaust tool to gauge the emissions ratio which runs over battery. PAK-EPA also have sophisticated piece of equipment to gauge the thickness of the smoke spewed from the cars in the federal capital," she added. DG PAK-EPA informed that the National Environmental Quality Standards (NEQS) for different types of vehicles being notified in 2009 under the Pakistan Environmental Protection Act 1999.

She mentioned that the implementation of the Vehicular Emission Control programme was being implemented with the help of Islamabad Traffic Police (ITP) along with PAK-EPA staff deputed on roads. “Due to the success of this legislation, two-stroke rickshaw has been phased out from the traffic gradually which is milestone achieved by PAK-EPA," she added.

Convener of the Committee Senator Junejo briefed the meeting that there was a new legislation intended to be passed in the parliament to ensure motor vehicle examination test with least burden on the poor masses.

"We want to exempt vehicles less than four wheels like motorcycle which is the means of transportation for the poor. We want to develop some different and out of the box legislation on this matter. We will seek inputs from the PAK-EPA and Ministry of Climate Change, however, Senator Muhammad Saif Ali Khan (member of the subcommittee) will assist in the technical and legal matters for an effective legislation," the chair noted.

Senator Samina Saeed said, "Despite many key challenges being faced by the country environmental crisis is the biggest issue which has gruesome impacts over our economy, ecology and human life. “She expressed that we had to go for stringent decisions as if it was not done then no one would follow on the issue as Senator Junejo reminded her to reckon the reaction of the masses after implementation of the legislation.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 6^th, 2019.