Neglect, funds shortage: As air, water pollutions spiral, monitoring dips
Environment Monitoring System nonfunctional after ministry was devolved
ISLAMABAD:
Water and air pollutions are spiralling in the country due to neglect and non-functioning of monitoring system. Costly machineries at the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) laboratories are rusting because of funds shortage.
The Environment Monitoring System (EMS) has been non-functional since the devolution of environment ministry to the provinces under the 18th Amendment in 2010.
At a recent meeting in the federal capital, representatives of provincial environment protection agencies (EPAs) agreed to reactivate the system to effectively monitor air and water pollution across the country.
An official at the EPA said that millions of rupees would be required to reactivate the system, which is almost non-functioning, as equipment bought for the EMS have been rusting in laboratories and have stopped functioning and chemicals for their maintenance have also expired.
“Due to non-availability of funds and total neglect laboratories have stopped functioning and expensive chemicals have expired without use,” an EPA official told The Express Tribune on the condition of anonymity.
The official said that the equipment needed calibration after every two weeks and the EPA had submitted a proposal to the Planning Commission for allocation of funds to make the system functional, but the Planning Commission has not yet responded to the request.
EPA Director-General Dr Khursheed Khan confirmed that the EMS has been without use since the ministry was devolved to provinces.
He said that the EMS was launched with the support of the Japanese Cooperation Agency (JICA) with an aim to establish the basis for a nationwide analysis of environment and water pollutions, which are constantly on the in Pakistan.
Ziaudin Khattak, another director at the EPA, said that the EMS was launched in 2007 to enhance technical capacity of EPA and provincial EPAs in air and water quality monitoring. The project was completed at a cost of Rs713.3705 million, of which Rs100.3705 million was provided by the Pakistan government, he said.
The project’s main focus was on three types of monitoring, which included ambient air quality monitoring, stack emission monitoring and water quality monitoring.
According to a survey conducted by the JICA in 2000, the concentration of pollutants in Pakistan was exceeding the World Health Organisation (WHO) Environmental Standards by 20 to 29 per cent.
Under the project, he JICA set up the ground floor of the Central Laboratory for Environmental Analysis and Networking (CLEAN), which consists of a main laboratory, an air and water lab, a data centre and a micro-biological lab with the state-of-the-art equipment capable of testing industrial and municipal waste and air pollution. The JICA also trained local staff under the project.
It would have to work as “reference laboratory” for provincial EPAs besides extending technical support to certified laboratories designated throughout Pakistan.
“Under the project, air quality monitoring systems with five stack emission monitoring vans had been provided to federal and provincial EPAs,” said the EPA director-general, while talking about the system, when it was fully functional.
He said these monitoring vans, equipped with complete set of stack emission monitoring devices, were earlier used for sampling and analysis of stack emission of industrial units and for further sharing data with the EMS.
The National Data Surveillance Centre (NDSC) to monitor air quality had also been established at the CLEAN.
“The function of NDSC was to calculate the average data of each parameter received from all the stations. The data was then compared with ambient air quality standards,” he said adding that another important function of these monitoring stations was to determine the actual air pollution level and find the way to improve it.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 27th, 2014.
Water and air pollutions are spiralling in the country due to neglect and non-functioning of monitoring system. Costly machineries at the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) laboratories are rusting because of funds shortage.
The Environment Monitoring System (EMS) has been non-functional since the devolution of environment ministry to the provinces under the 18th Amendment in 2010.
At a recent meeting in the federal capital, representatives of provincial environment protection agencies (EPAs) agreed to reactivate the system to effectively monitor air and water pollution across the country.
An official at the EPA said that millions of rupees would be required to reactivate the system, which is almost non-functioning, as equipment bought for the EMS have been rusting in laboratories and have stopped functioning and chemicals for their maintenance have also expired.
“Due to non-availability of funds and total neglect laboratories have stopped functioning and expensive chemicals have expired without use,” an EPA official told The Express Tribune on the condition of anonymity.
The official said that the equipment needed calibration after every two weeks and the EPA had submitted a proposal to the Planning Commission for allocation of funds to make the system functional, but the Planning Commission has not yet responded to the request.
EPA Director-General Dr Khursheed Khan confirmed that the EMS has been without use since the ministry was devolved to provinces.
He said that the EMS was launched with the support of the Japanese Cooperation Agency (JICA) with an aim to establish the basis for a nationwide analysis of environment and water pollutions, which are constantly on the in Pakistan.
Ziaudin Khattak, another director at the EPA, said that the EMS was launched in 2007 to enhance technical capacity of EPA and provincial EPAs in air and water quality monitoring. The project was completed at a cost of Rs713.3705 million, of which Rs100.3705 million was provided by the Pakistan government, he said.
The project’s main focus was on three types of monitoring, which included ambient air quality monitoring, stack emission monitoring and water quality monitoring.
According to a survey conducted by the JICA in 2000, the concentration of pollutants in Pakistan was exceeding the World Health Organisation (WHO) Environmental Standards by 20 to 29 per cent.
Under the project, he JICA set up the ground floor of the Central Laboratory for Environmental Analysis and Networking (CLEAN), which consists of a main laboratory, an air and water lab, a data centre and a micro-biological lab with the state-of-the-art equipment capable of testing industrial and municipal waste and air pollution. The JICA also trained local staff under the project.
It would have to work as “reference laboratory” for provincial EPAs besides extending technical support to certified laboratories designated throughout Pakistan.
“Under the project, air quality monitoring systems with five stack emission monitoring vans had been provided to federal and provincial EPAs,” said the EPA director-general, while talking about the system, when it was fully functional.
He said these monitoring vans, equipped with complete set of stack emission monitoring devices, were earlier used for sampling and analysis of stack emission of industrial units and for further sharing data with the EMS.
The National Data Surveillance Centre (NDSC) to monitor air quality had also been established at the CLEAN.
“The function of NDSC was to calculate the average data of each parameter received from all the stations. The data was then compared with ambient air quality standards,” he said adding that another important function of these monitoring stations was to determine the actual air pollution level and find the way to improve it.
“Due to devolution of the ministry and non-functioning of the integrated system, the sophisticated equipment at the labs is rusting out,” said another official at the EPA.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 27th, 2014.