Environmental degradation

In recent years, the air quality in Pakistan’s cities and towns has been deteriorating unstoppably. As a result of this, the number of people suffering from respiratory ailments is on the rise. Recently, hearing petitions relating to the persisting issue of smog in Lahore, Chief Justice of the Lahore High Court Mamoon Rashid Sheikh instructed the provincial government to take stern action against the industries violating environmental laws and also sought a report on effects of coal-fired power plants on climate. He expressed concern over the increasing air pollution and shrinking greenbelts in urban areas. “Do they really allocate space for greenbelts in Lahore’s master plan?” a furious CJ asked government officials. He noted that cities had lost their boundaries, saying this was due to poor planning by the authorities.

An official of the Lahore Development Authority informed the court that a new master plan for Lahore was being drawn up. He said Rs500 million had been allocated under a four-year plan to plant trees in the city, but admitted that trees had not been planted along Ring Road. A petitioner’s counsel submitted there was no decline in smog but the environment department could present piles of papers to justify its performance.

In October last year, the Air Quality Index in Lahore had reached 484 while the threshold for hazardous level of air quality is 300. Life expectancy of residents of Lahore would go up by 5.1 years if WHO guidelines on air quality are met. According to the government’s own admission, 43% of the air pollution in the country is being caused due to the use of substandard fuel in vehicles, and switchover to cleaner fuel is not possible before 2021. At a recent government-sponsored marathon in Karachi, the PM2.5 air particles reading was 58.5 whereas WHO has set the permissible level at 10. The air quality too was an unhealthy 160. One can only say apathy is the acceptance of the unacceptable.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 18^th, 2020.

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