LATE is better than never. The Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency has shut down two steel mills in the industrial area of the federal capital, which had been causing significant pollution in Islamabad. The black smoke rising from the chimneys was black carbon with a mixture of solid and liquid particles that circulated in the air in the adjoining residential sectors. This had been the source of increasing risk of multiple diseases.

There are still many more steel mills and other factories that are responsible for polluting the environment. The size and quantum of the pollution could be gauged from the fact that the nearby buildings wear black thick layers of dust. Even cars parked in the porches and streets in I-8 and I-9 sectors are found covered with black dust every morning. Just imagine how much the particulate poisonous dust is inhaled by the residents.

Shutting down just two industrial units for breaking environment laws is not enough. Strict action is needed against all such mills and factories.

Mehnaz Siddiqui
Islamabad

Published in Dawn, April 19th, 2018