HYDERABAD, May 26: The environmental magistrates of Sindh have been directed to effectively implement the laws to reduce the level of pollution.

At a one-day training workshop, held here on Monday, they were briefed about the Pakistan Environmental Protection Act (PEPA) 1997 to dispense justice to the people.

The EMs were asked that they must investigate, ascertain facts and figures before handing down judgements in the environmental cases.

The workshop called upon the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to submit complaints against the polluters to initiate legal procedure against them. The workshop laid emphasis on checking of hazardous substance and smoke emitting vehicles in Sindh, especially in Karachi.

The orientation for the Sindh environmental magistrates was jointly organized by the EPA, Hyderabad, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the programme for environmental research and training (PERT) at the Shahbaz hall.

Speaking on the occasion Justice (rtd) Saleem Akhtar exhorted the EMs that environmental rights were the part of fundamental rights of the people, guaranteed in the Constitution and that the EMs should protect these rights.

Describing smoke emitting vehicles as danger to the environment, Justice Akhtar observed that magistrates should put their foot down and take effective action by applying the PEPA.

Secretary Pakistan Environmental Law Association, Jawad Hassan, advocate said that the director-general, EPA, possessed quasi judicial powers under the PEPA. Regretting that no action had been taken under the PEPA and only lip service was paid.

Speaking on the occasion Zila Nazim Dr Makhdoom Rafik Zaman asked the EPA to deal with smoke emitting vehicles. He invited the PEPA to handle the project of hazardous treatment project, offered by a Canadian firm because the district government was not empowered to give them a letter of consent.

Sindh EPA DG Shafiq Khoso said that a team of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) would soon visit Hyderabad to study environmental problems as it would lead to financial assistant and monitoring support.

SU EMPLOYEES: The vice-chancellor of the University of Sindh, Mazharul Haq Siddiqui, has assured employees of the university that their genuine problems will be resolved.