Steps outlined to cut vehicle emissions

Speakers at a workshop urged car drivers, transporters and the general public to play their role in reducing and controlling air pollution.

They stressed that as responsible citizen everyone should be serious about tackling this global issue.

They expressed these views at a day-long workshop on air pollution in Peshawar city jointly organized by Directorate of Transport and Mass Transit Government of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) and Department of Environmental Science, University of Peshawar.

Secretary Transport Amir Lateef was the chief guest on the occasion while Professor Dr Muhammad Nafees, chairman Environmental Science department, Dr Shehla Nazneen, and Dr Hizbullah delivered their lectures regarding air pollution.

Amir Lateef said that transport department is going to develop various policies aimed at controlling and reducing vehicular air pollution.

He said that revolutionary steps are being taken in the directorate of transport and mass transit and for the first time in history, the National Environmental Standards (NEQS) have been changed to international standards to check the pollution emitted by vehicles and this historic change has been made in the quality standards received from the federal government in 1994 and it has included the gases that cause global warming and climate change for the first time and made the existing standards more stringent.

He said that nine vehicle testing stations in different districts of the province including Peshawar, Mardan, Swat, Malakand, Abbottabad, Mansehra, Kohat , Bannu and DI Khan and 14 mobile laboratories are functioning.

These machines measure the emissions of vehicles and if the emissions are below the prescribed national environmental standards, the vehicles are given a pass certificate which is valid for six months.

If the smoke level of the vehicle exceeds the prescribed national environmental standards, it is fined and the documents are confiscated, while the expert technicians of the Vehicles Emission Testing Stations (VETS) team of the Transport Department inform the vehicle owners of the defects of the vehicles and their rectification.

The inspection team also gives instructions on how to fix the car after it is inspected again.

The transport department secretary announced internship for the students of the Environmental Sciences Department, under which 10 students will be given the opportunity to do an internship in the department of transport for three months, and during that time, 25 thousand rupees per month as stipends will be given to them.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 22^nd, 2022.