ISLAMABAD: A parliamentary body on Wednesday observed that improper disposal of e-waste, especially used batteries from electric vehicles, was becoming a major concern in the city.

The National Assembly Standing Committee on Climate Change, which met under the chairmanship of MNA Syed Mustafa Mehmud, commenced with a briefing on its recommendation about the issue of disposal of electric vehicles’ expired batteries.

The committee was informed that rapid growth of the electronic industry and high rate of obsolescence of electronic products had led to generation of huge quantities of electronic waste (e-waste) and the government was therefore in the process of seeking financial support for a comprehensive study on e-waste.

According to the Ministry of Climate Change, the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) Pakistan had initially expressed intent to fund the study. The committee directed the ministry to share, in the next meeting, the e-disposal models adopted by other countries.

For improvement of the degrading environment in general in the capital city, the committee suggested that import and manufacturing of electric vehicles should be facilitated in the country and it should be made mandatory to buy solar panels for charging purposes, for whoever bought an electric vehicle must pay extra duty.

The committee deferred the bill titled ‘The Pakistan Environmental Protection (Amendment) Bill, 2019’, which was moved by MNA Amjad Ali Khan, till its next meeting.

The members also discussed a point of order regarding problems of crushing plants in Margalla Hills National Park (MHNP) near Khanpur area, which was damaging the environment.

Published in Dawn, September 30th, 2021