A polluted Karachi

It comes as no surprise that Karachi has been deemed as the world’s fourth largest polluted city in the world according to investigative reports. The IQAir, an international apex body monitoring air quality, has revealed that Karachi’s air quality has increased to a dangerous and unhealthy level of 193 while in February the concentration of Particulate Matter (PM) in the city’s air was recorded at 2.5 — almost 11 times higher than the standard set by the WHO.

There are four major factors contributing to pollution in Karachi: poor drainage and sewage system; burning of 13,000 tonnes of garbage a week; vehicular emission; and, emission and dumping of waste from industrial units. All this has contributed to making Karachi one of the least liveable cities in the world. Another astonishing revelation made by IQAir was the false promises made by the Centre as well as the Sindh government of improving public health, air quality and the environment. The truth is that little effort has been made by the authorities to mitigate the problem. In such a situation, it is up to the citizens to take ownership of their city and advocate for a clean and green Karachi. If citizens are able to collaborate with civil society organisations and push government officials to develop an accountability framework, it will immensely help their cause.

A city-wide anti-pollution project needs to be initiated that systematically tackles the causes of pollution. Considering that emissions from motor vehicles account for 70% of the air pollution in Karachi, the Transport and Mass Transit Department must work together with the Climate Change Department to revamp the entire transport structure and ban the use of dilapidated buses and 4-stroke rickshaws in order to reduce the overall emission rate. Other factors need to be dealt with accordingly. The bottom-line is that pollution can have adverse impacts on human health due to which the rate of diseases in Karachi is already rapidly increasing. The concerned officials must therefore realise the gravity of the situation and devise a long-term plan at the earliest.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 4^th, 2022.

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