ISLAMABAD: The government on Friday said that children, the elderly and patients with asthma must wear masks when stepping in the open after the federal capital’s air has become vastly polluted.

“The situation is not as bad as Lahore and the caution is not binding on all. However, particulate matter (PM) 2.5ug per meter cube has risen significantly and can be injurious to the health of children, the elderly and patients,” Director Lab/National Environmental Quality Standards, Pakistan Environment Protection Agency (Pak-EPA) Dr Zaigham Abbas told Dawn.

Several simultaneous construction projects including Serena and the PTCL chowk interchanges combined with vehicular pollution have raised the PM 2.5 ug per meter cube in the atmosphere making the air residents in Islamabad breathe poisonous.

The daily air quality index recorded by the Pakistan Environment Protection Agency (Pak-EPA) showed that PM 2.5 in the air over Islamabad on Friday was 186 ug/meter cube and was declared ‘unhealthy’.

Children, elderly asked to wear masks while going out in the open

“This is much higher than the safe limit of 35 ug/meter cube set by national environmental quality standards (NEQS),” said the official.

Dr Abbas, who is a senior environmental official, said that his office had appealed to the deputy commissioner to halt the Capital Development Authority’s (CDA) practice of burning garbage in the public bins. Instead, he has called for proper waste dumping at designated sites.

“We have raised concerns about the burning of waste, which includes highly toxic materials like plastics and disposable diapers,” Dr Abbas said.

He also pointed out that barbecue points had been identified as significant contributors to the city’s air pollution and requested the local authorities to address the issue.

Air quality in the capital continued to deteriorate, with sources pointing to emissions from outdated brick kilns on the city’s outskirts that have not yet adopted environmentally friendly zigzag technology.

Additionally, pollution from neighbouring Rawalpindi was adding to the increasing levels of PM2.5 particulate matter in the air, posing a health risk to Islamabad’s residents.

Dr Abbas said that Pak-EPA had initiated preventive measures, imposing fines on heavy diesel vehicles at Sabzi Mandi for violating environmental laws.

“Pak-EPA has also called a meeting of over 40 officials of public and private offices and universities who are operating heavy diesel vehicles for transportation of their employees and students.

Several such vehicles contribute excessively to worsening air quality in Islamabad in violation of environmental laws. “We will instruct them to take necessary measures otherwise environmental protection orders (EPO) will be issued and the vehicles will be banned.

According to a source in the Ministry of Climate Change, the developers of the Serena and PTCL interchanges have not submitted environment impact assessment (EIA) reports for the two mega projects, which is a prerequisite for starting the construction work to ensure mitigation measures.

Published in Dawn, November 9th, 2024