ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) administration on Saturday sealed 40 brick kilns for being a public nuisance and causing environmental pollution.

ICT administration spokesperson Nauman Shah said an “operation” was carried out on the G.T. Road and in parts of Tarnol in which brick kilns were sealed “for causing public nuisance and environmental pollution.”

“Moreover, they did not have no-objection certificates (NOC) to operate near residential areas,” Mr Shah added.

He said the operation was conducted on directions from Chief Commissioner Amer Ali Ahmed.

“As many as 26 brick kilns were sealed in the area of the Noon police station and 26 were sealed in the area of the Tarnol police station,” he said.

Mr Shah said not a single owner provided an NOC or any other legal documents regarding their business.

He said in addition to operating in residential areas, some had been set up in houses and others on small plots.

“Owners have been directed to appear in front of Additional District Magistrate Waseem Khan. They will be asked if they have any documents, and will be informed that they cannot run those kilns in a residential area,” he said.

An ICT official who requested anonymity said the kilns were located near Islamabad International Airport and had been burning tyres, which was causing problems for flight operations.

He said there was a similar issue in Sihala almost 10 years ago, and the “funnel area of airplanes at the former airport were becoming unclear, due to which a number of kilns were sealed.”

He added that brick kilns destroy land by removing moisture from the soil, which was why they should not be established without approval – particularly in residential areas.

In Pakistan’s first Environment Barometer Survey launched last July, air pollution, high temperatures and water scarcity were cited as the country’s top three environmental challenges.

The survey was conducted by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute and Herald magazine to assess public perception on environmental issues and the government’s role in the environmental sphere.

It found that 89pc of respondents believed environmental issues negatively impacted their health while 74pc felt their livelihood was impacted and 68pc felt their day-to-day life was impacted. Only 4pc were satisfied by their respective governments’ measures to combat challenges to the environment.

Published in Dawn, April 7th, 2019