Wahab calls for collective action to curb pollution

Adviser to the Sindh Chief Minister on Law, Environment and Coastal Development Murtaza Wahab called for collective action to control air pollution on Thursday and attributed failed environmental campaigns of the past to citizens and industrialists not taking responsibility on that front and influential persons and mafia hampering climate action.

Addressing a seminar on the 'Air Quality Management of Karachi', organised by the Sindh Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA), Wahab proposed a two-pronged approach to control air pollution.

"On the regulatory side, it should be controlled with legal tools, while on the participatory side, people should minimise their carbon footprint," he suggested.

Besides, Wahab termed the steps taken by the judicially-mandated water commission to curb pollution, particularly water pollution, "commendable". However, he expressed regret that despite all provincial government departments complying with the commission's directives for four years, the problem persisted.

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"[This is because] we adopted a reactive approach to control environmental degradation," he said, adding that instead of looking at others, people and institutions needed to own the problems and take initiatives on their own to resolve them.

Wahab further stated, "Degradation is our collective problem and we need to put aside our personal gains if a conflict of interest arises in this respect.

He gave the example of Lahore, where, he said, people now owned the issue of poor air quality and voices were being raised to address the issue.

"The situation in Karachi is not as grave… [but] the environmental problems here need the same level of community participation and collective efforts by all stakeholders," he opined.

He maintained that factory owners, more often than not, expressed an inability to install wastewater treatment plants on the premises of manufacturing units, citing the lack of space.

"They offer this lame excuse because there is a lack of will on their part to treat wastewater," he claimed, adding that it was so even when they had the option of installing combined effluent treatment plants, for which the Sindh government had appropriated funds under the annual development plan.

He went on to say that a "mafia is trying to create hurdles in the way of the enforcement of environment friendly laws, as it hurts their business interests."

"In this situation, how can a government improve and protect the environment… if people with vested interests try of foil its efforts?" he questioned, urging citizens to support government initiatives aimed at improving the environment.

Wahab said, "No movement or reforms can achieve the desired results if they are carried out by the government in isolation."

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The CM's aide voiced objection to a citizen challenging the pedestrianisation of Burnes Road in the court.

"If such ideas face resistance, who would come up with more such ideas in the future?" he remarked.

Speaking of past initiatives for controlling pollution, he recalled that the SEPA had launched a crackdown on illegal battery kilns in the recent days, but some "powerful elements" had stepped in to rescue the offenders.

Replying to a question, he assured that the government would start establishing garbage transfer stations in Karachi soon.

Without naming any entity, he added, "elements that trumpeted a clean Karachi campaign were the ones who dumped garbage on a piece of coastal land. When we cleaned the mess and started planting saplings there, they attempted to hinder the drive. They don't want us to work for the betterment of society and improve the environment."

Published in The Express Tribune, March 12^th, 2021.