KARACHI, April 28: The Adviser to the Chief Minister on Environment, Alternate Energy and Information Technology, Mohammad Noman Saigol, has announced an emission testing scheme worth Rs30 million.

He made the announcement at a press conference in his office on Friday.

Saigol hailed the order of the Sindh High Court regarding improvement of the city’s transport system in three months time and said the particular order had given quite some strength to the Environment Department.

He was of the view that basically, it was the domain of the Environment Department to take steps for checking pollution.

He said there was an effort of two years behind the scheme, adding that it would be the first time that Pakistan will have emission testing.

Obviously, Saigol added that Sindh would be the first province in the country to come up with such an arrangement.

Calling it a complete testing facility for vehicles, the adviser said that as many as 100 vehicles would be checked in a day.

As many as 17 senior officers would be deputed along with a team of officials for the purpose.

Saigol said the scheme was being initiated in Karachi, Hyderabad and Sukkur.

He said that over 8,000 CNG-run buses were also coming and the federal government was making available Rs500 million for the provision of 'duty support' in this regard to make them cost-effective.

The adviser said efforts were also being made in liaison with the traffic police for launching an awareness scheme.

He asked the distributors of two-stroke rickshaws, manufactured in the Punjab, not to encourage these in Sindh or otherwise they would be compelled to take action.

Saigol also asked the managements of hospitals and restaurants to see that rickshaws did not come near beyond a certain limit as this would create pollution and visitors could be affected.

He stressed that there must be environment impact assessment for the development schemes. The adviser said that efforts were also being made for the launching of a smart traffic programme, which would also help check pollution.

He stated that a task force would also be set up with the representatives of the Environment, Transport and Home departments to play their role in this direction.—APP