ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Environment Protection Agency (Pak-EPA) has called for a public hearing in the coming week, inviting possible public concerns on degradation of the environment from the planned construction of a 132KV grid station and its feeding transmission line at the Cabinet Division Housing Society.

The public hearing, which is scheduled to be held on April 25, would allow residents to share their concerns about the physical, ecological, socio-economic and cultural environment of the construction of the grid station and deliberate on mitigation measures to minimise environmental degradation.

Pak-EPA said it would be concerned with soil-related issues such as land clearing, soil contamination from fuel, oil or chemical spillage and leakage, inappropriate waste disposal, and excavation, filling and construction activities.

The environment protection agency said the noise and vibration would be generated by construction machinery and vehicles, besides contamination of groundwater from waste and sewage disposal, maintenance of equipment and machinery and campsite sanitation facilities.

The watchdog was more concerned with the loss of green cover — indigenous vegetation — and the clearing of undergrowth species such as bushes, grass, etc.

Among the socio-economic impacts of the construction of the grid station on the free-of-cost 32-kanal land were eye and respiratory diseases from routine exposure of construction workers to dust and exhaust emissions on the project site.

Pak-EPA maintained that the overall impact assessment, more especially the nature and magnitude of the residual environmental impacts identified during the environment impact assessment (EIA), the 132KV grid station, and its 132KV feeding transmission line were likely to cause environmental impacts mainly during its construction phase. Pak-EPA emphasised that the environmental impacts could be mitigated provided the proposed activities were carried out as mentioned in the EIA report.

Some of the mitigation measures suggested in the report were: minimising soil erosion; construction of temporary walls bordering the construction area to contain debris and soil; septic tanks and soakage pits with adequate capacity; collecting waste oils; and separating recyclable waste.

The report also recommended restoring natural vegetation loss, besides a ban on blasting and nighttime construction work and minimising illumination at night.

It also recommended a 15-kilometre speed limit for vehicles at the construction site.

Pak-EPA also recommended thorough health screening and training of construction workers, especially to monitor eye and respiratory diseases.

In the last month, Pak-EPA has held two public hearings for feedback from residents on the health and environmental impacts of the construction of the Garden Residence project in Sector F-10. The other public hearing was on infrastructure development works for sub-sector G-15/3.

Published in Dawn, April 22nd, 2024