CDA to dedicate budget for Faisal Mosque cleanliness

Senators urge climate change ministry to build a mobile application to monitor air quality in capital

ISLAMABAD:

To ensure the cleanliness at the Faisal Mosque - a major attraction and an icon of the federal capital - the apex civic agency of the city will dedicate funds.

This was disclosed during a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Climate Change. The committee met at the Parliament Lodges on Tuesday with Senator Sitara Ayaz in the chair.

During the meeting, the cleanliness of the Faisal Mosque was discussed.

Capital Development Authority (CDA) Chairman Aamer Ali Ahmed said that the mosque along with other iconic recreational sites such as Daman-e-Koh, Lake View Park, and Shakapariyan were the faces of Islamabad.

However, he admitted that their condition has deteriorated over time. To address this, he promised that the civic authority will allocate a separate budget for their maintenance and uplift.

The panel of senators also expressed their dissatisfaction with the poor cleanliness and dilapidated condition of street lights in different sectors of Islamabad. They said that major markets of the federal capital present a derelict facade with broken roads and trash littering surroundings and malfunctioning street lights.

The CDA chief assured the committee that they will observe a marked change around the city within a month. In this regard, Aamir said that the civic authority has formulated a strategy to repair roads of the federal capital while they were already fixing broken street lights in different sectors.

The panel also discussed issues related to the import and export of wild animals and birds. The committee was told that the Ministry of Climate Change (MoCC) currently issues permits based on recommendations of provincial wildlife departments. However, the ministry is in the process of formulating a set of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) in this regard.

Moreover, the committee was told that due to the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, the ministry had imposed a ban on the import and export of wild animals until the end of the year.

The secretary of MoCC further said that they were reviewing plans to impose a ban on the imprisonment of birds and animals in the country for commercial purposes.

Reviewing the environmental issues in the capital territory, particularly the poor quality of air, the committee was told that two monitoring devices have been installed in different areas of the federal capital to measure the air quality index. Air quality index, officials said, is measured around the clock and the data is available on their website.

Senator Muhsahid Hussain Syed, who had initially raised the issue of poor air quality in the capital in the last meeting of the committee, suggested that the government should leverage the power of modern technology and a mobile application should be developed through which people can check updated information on air quality of the city.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Director General (DG) told the committee that the lockdown imposed in the federal capital and other parts of the country due to the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic had helped mitigate pollution to a large extent. The situation was also improved by the installation of filtration plants by industries.

However, the official said that diesel is used in the country was not of Euro-II quality which could lead to an increase in air pollution.

The panel also took strong exception to open burning trash in open areas and directed to take strict action against it.

Senator Ayaz said that whenever they go to international platforms, they proudly declare the use of plastic bags has been banned in the country, but the truth is that plastic bags continue to be used in the federal capital.

At this, the EPA chief said that the pandemic had hurt their efforts to impose a ban on plastic bags. Furthermore, the official said they are working on a project to recycle plastic bags in the city.

In response to a question from Senator Syed, the CDA chairman said that the Margalla Highway is being built in the capital. He assured the senator that the road is part of the master plan of the city and that it will not affect the Margalla Hills National Park (MHNP).