Piling woes: Environment held hostage to money

For EPA, delayed funds halting water testing, monitoring of industrial units.

ISLAMABAD:

All the activities of the Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency (Pak-EPA) are on hiatus due to non-release of funds by the relevant authorities, The Express Tribune has learnt.

The environment agency has halted its ‘monitoring and enforcement’ operations, under which it conducts water testing, monitoring of industrial units and functioning of brick kilns in the city. “For the last six weeks, Pak-EPA could not test Rawal Dam’s water,” a senior official of the agency told The Express Tribune.

Moreover, securing the capital against the toxic fumes emitted by industrial units inside the city also remains on the back burner as officials from the Capital Development Authority (CDA) have not given any date for relocating them. “The up-gradation of anti-pollution equipment is a source of worry for Pak-EPA as well, it is struggling to bring down the emissions of steel units to the prescribed level, an official said.

“The ‘Vehicle Test Campaign’ under which the agency checked around 45,000 vehicles last year could not be completed this year,” he said. The main purpose of the Vehicle Test Campaign, which stopped this May, was to force transporters to ensure maintenance of vehicles to reduce environmental hazards, he said.

“The monitoring and enforcement system needs money, but unfortunately after the devolution process under the 18th amendment, funds could not be released for important projects,” said Pak-EPA Director Asad Faiz. “Currently we are not in the position to continue our activities,” he confirmed. “The Accountant General Pakistan Revenues assured us of the release of Rs25m to Pak-EPA within two weeks,” he added.

Faiz said it is alarming that the agency is unable to monitor hundreds of industrial units, brick kilns and air quality index, activities of housing societies and the water in Rawal Dam.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 4^th, 2011.