ISLAMABAD: Dust being generated due to widening of roads and rise in tailpipe emissions from increased traffic are the reason why air quality in the capital is declining.
Ongoing projects such as the under-construction 7th Avenue Interchange, the 10th Avenue, Margalla Road, and work on I.J. Principal Road as well as Rawal Chowk Interchange are causing a steep rise in particulate matter (PM).
“The contribution of the built environment, in both the construction and operational phases, cannot be underestimated,” said a senior official from the Ministry of Climate Change.
Lack of water sprinkling at these sites of ongoing mega projects to stop dust pollution was emerging as one of the top reasons for deteriorating air quality in the city, he said.
According to National Environmental Quality Standards (NEQS) Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency (Pak-EPA) Deputy Director Dr Mohsina Zubair said one of the major problems the city was facing was the prolonged dry spell.
“Comparatively, the month of March was the warmest this year when temperatures reached nearly 36°C, higher than 20 degrees last year,” she said, the movement of dumper trucks in sectors I-9 and I-10 was also one of the factors that harmed air quality. At the same time, project developers were trying to keep the impact from construction activities to a minimum, she said.
She said that vehicular emissions contributed more than 40 percent to air pollution countrywide. After the pandemic, every activity in the twin cities was in full swing - institutions, universities and schools were still functioning and the traffic load was immense. After establishment of signal free corridors, she said, traffic flow had become continuous.
“There is no decrease in traffic flow even past midnight,” she said adding that air quality had improved somewhat in the last few days.
The last sufficient rain showers were in February, she said. March was so dry that humidity was as low as 24pc. Last year, humidity in March was over 40pc, the official said, adding: “A single spell of rain used to provide relief for at least the next two or three days at the same time settling dust.”
Officials from the climate ministry maintained that currently, major road projects, had been harming the air quality and water sprinkling could really keep dust levels on the minimum. Pak-EPA was monitoring these development schemes to ensure that developers, fulfilled their requirements following standards mentioned in detail in the environment impact assessment reports, to prevent deterioration of environment and human health.
Published in Dawn, April 11th, 2022
