K-P govt draws ire over missing air quality meters

Government attitude on environment irks residents

PESHAWAR:

The state of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s (K-P) capital’s air quality is unhealthy to say the least but it seems the true extent of its mediocrity has not been unearthed yet.

The provincial government has paid no heed to installing air quality meters in Peshawar or the entire province, which has led environmental experts to draw the conclusion that the true state of the city’s polluted air is unknown and depicts a lack of seriousness on the government’s part regarding pollution.

Dr Adil Zarif, a public health expert and an environmentalist based in Peshawar, while talking to the Express tribune, expressed his displeasure at the K-P government not taking air pollution seriously. “Environmental pollution is impossible to control without research, policy, and legislation but the government’s steps have so far been temporary measures,” he said.

Zarif was of the view that unscrupulous settlements and the decimation of agricultural land to make way for housing societies was the reason for rising pollution in the province. Mentioning the need for the latest air quality measuring tech, Zarif said that apart from research a more serious effort was needed to overcome K-P’s pollution problem.

Presently, the three air quality monitors that exist in Peshawar were privately installed. The ones near Hayatabad and on the GT Road near the K-P Chamber of Commerce were both installed by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) whereas the third one belongs to the American Consulate in the Saddar area. As per experts, the problem with the two installed by NGOs is that while they determine some components of air pollution, they fail to detect carbon, zinc, dust and other harmful substances in the air. The monitors also fail to detect the proportion of monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, and sulfur dioxide in the air.

As a result, residents of the city rely on their memory for air comparisons. Tanveer, who is visiting his family in the Chamkani area of Peshawar from overseas, told The Express Tribune that he was disappointed with the city he grew up in. “10 years ago when I used to enter Peshawar, I used to see pears, apricots, and green orchards, but now the city is riddled with smoke, dust, and traffic,” he said.

Dr Aftab, a long time resident of Peshawar also longs for a clean and green Peshawar. “The influx of diesel powered vehicles, dust, and smoke from furnaces is ruining the health of this city’s residents and we desperately need a plan of action,” he told The Express Tribune.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 16^th, 2021.