ISLAMABAD, Nov 4: The Ministry of Environment and government of Japan on Tuesday agreed to launch a project for establishing an environment monitoring system (EMS).

The project aims at strengthening technical capacities of the Pakistan Environment Protection Agency and provincial environment agencies for effective environmental monitoring of air and water.

Under the project, capacities of all the environment agencies would be improved for environmental supervision through various measures, including formation of monitoring plans, analysis and quality assurance and quality control system on air and water with the equipment already procured with the Japanese grant aid.

Japan has so far provided grant assistance of Rs509 million to Pakistan for the establishment of the environmental monitoring system under which seven monitoring stations have been set up in federal and provincial capitals along three mobile laboratories for air quality monitoring. The project also includes up-gradation of existing laboratories of provincial EPAs and a new laboratory for Pak-EPA at Islamabad.

Under the current project, Japanese experts would come to Pakistan and training for officials of the EPAs would be carried out in Japan. The project would further strengthen the ability of the EPAs in interpreting and evaluating monitoring data based on the internationally recognised environmental standards.

Based on the nationwide environment data management system, the EPAs would be able to manage compilation of monitoring data and its dissemination to the general public.

Speaking at a meeting held here, Minister for Environment Hameed Ullah Jan Afridi said a group of Japanese experts would visit Pakistan by the end of this year to train the officers and operators of the project for equipment operation, planning and implementation of pollution control strategy to be developed by the experts.

The experts will also evaluate the already installed air control monitoring stations and review the project and make recommendations for its next phase.