ISLAMABAD, Feb 15: Amid claims by the environment ministry of controlling the organic pollutants, the National Assembly on Thursday decided to formulate a subcommittee to review the overall environmental situation.
Speaker Chaudhry Amir Hussain and the lower house expressed concern over the environmental degradation across the country during the question hour session and decided to formulate the subcommittee comprising members from the standing committees on environment, health and agriculture.
Minister of State for Environment Malik Amin Aslam told the house that an implementation plan was being prepared to control and phase out stocks of the 12 banned organic pollutants called the “Dirty Dozen”.
He said in a study conducted recently it was found that 6,000 tons of obsolete organic pollutants were stored at different provincial depots.
He said the environment ministry had also described 32 National Environment Quality Standards (NEQS) to control pollutants and the farmers were being informed about the harms of over spray on crops and fruits.
Mr Aslam said controlling adulteration in pesticides was the responsibility of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture.
The chairman of Standing Committee on Environment, Farzeen Sarfraz, informed the house that 80 per cent of the pesticides sprayed on crops and fruits either evaporated into the air or absorbed by the soil, which was serious matter.
Abdul Qadir Khanzada said almost 60 per cent of the sample of fruits tested sometime back were found contaminated with residual pesticides.
There is no laboratory in Pakistan that can carry out more than seven tests to ascertain the harmful impact of pesticides, despite the fact that 27 tests are undertaken world over to test the same, he added.
Amin Aslam said the government was making all out efforts to improve the environmental situation and the budgetary allocations had been enhanced from Rs400 million to Rs5 billion during the recent years.
He also referred to lack of an electromagnetic mechanism for cleaning the agriculture water, and said during low water days River Ravi turned into a sewerage line and the farmers downstream used this polluted water for growing vegetable.
He said a pollution checking plant would be set up in Bahawalnagar to monitor the tarns-boundary pollution and the pollutants entering Pakistan from the Indian side.
The government is ensuring Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of all projects and notices have been issued to those who had not carried out the EIA prior to starting the project, he added.
Parliamentary Secretary for Petroleum Rao Ajmal Khan said the government provided petrol, diesel and other petroleum products on subsidised prices when the oil prices in the international market had shot up.
He said a new oil refinery was being set up with a capacity of producing 30 million tons of oil products, which would reduce our dependence on imported oil.
The lower house was informed that in Pakistan Post around 600 employees passed their upper age limit during service on daily wages and that it was unjust.
Parliamentary Secretary for Communications Abdul Qadir Khanzada said the mechanism for employment in grades one, two and seven was more complicated than the CSS examination.
“I am going to hold a meeting with the Pakistan Post to review this mechanism and sort out that it should be made easier,” he said.
He agreed with the members that an inquiry should be conducted to look into why the employees were not recruited on regular basis in grade two and five by the previous director- general of the Pakistan Post.—APP
