KARACHI, April 3: An environment-friendly low-noise level auto-rickshaw silencer is likely to be introduced in Karachi by the end of the year, and 24,000 auto-rickshaws will have the new silence.

Till March 31, 8,135 auto-rickshaws in the city opted for the new silencer.

This was disclosed at a meeting convened by the Sindh Ombudsman, Justice Haziqul Khairi.

The meeting was attended by the DIG Traffic and officials of the Environmental Protection Agency. Ombudsman has been holding such meetings since July 2001.

The meeting decided that the EPA would submit a final report on introduction of CNG kits in auto-rickshaws under a project sponsored by the Canadian International Development Agency.

Discussing the working of the environmental tribunal and magistrates, Justice Khairi expressed concern over their inability to function in matters relating to environment.

No accommodation and staff was provided by the Sindh government, though both were constituted two years back.

The Ombudsman expressed concern over the situation and said that environmental laws “exist on paper only” in Sindh. A fully-equipped mobile laboratory van donated by the European Union is lying idle for many years at SEPA premises in Karachi.

He directed the DG SEPA to give him a briefing on their performance this month.

The normal human capability to bear noise is up to level of 85 dB(A) (decibels), measured by a sound-meter at distance of 7.5 meters, and sound waves beyond this level can cause a harm to the hearing ability of the people in the immediate vicinity, can cause hypertension and neurological diseases if they remain exposed for longer periods of time.

As auto-rickshaws use defective silences, the citizens bear the brunt, and this happens as traffic police continue to ignore them.—PPI