SEPA redressed 217 complaints last year

Environment secretary directs officials to expedite the process for redressing complaints

KARACHI: At least 217 environment-related complaints were redressed by the Sindh Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) in 2019, shared SEPA officials during a meeting on Tuesday.

The meeting was presided over by Environment, Climate Change and Coastal Development Secretary Khan Muhammad Mahar, who was apprised that action was taken against citizens' complaints, received by SEPA's public complaint cell, in accordance with environmental laws.

A breakdown shows that of the total complaints received in 2019, 112 were from Karachi, 24 from Hyderabad and Sukkur each, 12 from Larkana, 14 from Mirpurkhas and 31 from other areas of the province.

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The officials told Mahar that most complaints pertained to environmental pollution, including the contamination of land, air and water. According to SEPA officials, complaints were also received from remote areas of Sindh, where there is little monitoring of citizens' compliance with laws.

Saying that SEPA managed to timely address 217 complaints in 2019 despite a lack of resources, SEPA Public Complaint Cell In-Charge Waqar Hussain Phulpoto said, "reviewing the technical and legal aspects of the case is [a] time-consuming [process]."

Mahar, however, directed SEPA officials to expedite the process for redressing complaints, sounding alarm bells over the probable consequences and health and environmental hazards of not addressing the complaints promptly.