EPA to get 10 new air quality monitors

Govt allocates Rs600 million for the initiative

ISLAMABAD: Balochistan government has planned to install 10 new Air Quality Monitoring Stations (AQMS) in the border areas to monitor the air quality in the province.

Talking to APP on Wednesday, an official of Balochistan Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Lab Incharge Engineer Muhammad Khan said the provincial government has allocated Rs600 million for the installment of AQMS on various sites including Taftan, Chaman, Gwadar, Khuzdar, Hub, Loralai and other locations.

The provincial EPA had been collecting air quality data since 2003 which was not available in digital form, he said, adding that the authority would make efforts to make the data online.

“The air quality recorded in Quetta has ideal level of declined pollutants,” he added. The official said that the provincial government had declared Astola Island as a marine protected area and was also working to protect the environment of Charna Island near Karachi.

He said that around 89 brick kilns were operating in the adjoining areas of the provincial capital that had badly affected the air leaving a thick layer of pollution suspended in the ambiance.

Khan said the brick kilns were shut down and shifted outside the city as a single brick kiln was using over 10-12 tonnes of coal per day that was causing increase in smoke and pollutant ratio.

“The two furnace oil plants have also been ordered to shift their business out of the city. There is 100 percent compliance report in this regard and it has helped improve the air quality in Quetta city,” he added.

Muhammad Khan said there were more than 10,000 two-stroke auto rickshaws running in Quetta city which was causing dangerous situation with respect to smog outbreak in the provincial capital.

The government had banned them to ensure pollution-free environment in the city, he added.

“Our teams are equipped with proper gadgets to check the emissions of vehicular fleets at random,” he said.

The government had phased out 60 buses in the last month that were creating air pollution, running on intercity routes and different city thoroughfares, that were using non-compliant diesel fuel containing high ratio of hazardous sulphur dioxide.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 5^th, 2019.