GILGIT, Nov 25: No toxic ingredients and hazardous suspended particles have been found in the samples of “ambient air” collected from various parts of the Northern Areas, said a survey report here on Saturday.

The samples were collected from Chilas, Gilgit, Hunza and Skardu by the head of the Environmental Assessment Services of the IUCN, Pakistan, Ahmed Saeed, and his team from SPARCO.

Briefing the secretary for planning and development, the environment protection director and other officials of the P&DD and the Northern Areas Conservation Strategy Support Project, about the interim results of ambient air samples’ analysis, Mr Saeed said that initially no toxic ingredients and hazardous suspended particles had been found in the samples, which reflected the absence of any serious air pollution in the region.

He, however, cautioned that the findings were yet to be authenticated through in-depth analysis of the collected data.

Speaking about the initiative to develop an action plan for solid waste management in the Gilgit, he informed the officials about the nature and details of the meeting held with officials concerned of the Gilgit Municipal Committee and other departments.

He said the Konodas dumping site had been visited for necessary data collection and a comprehensive action plan for waste management and disposal in the Gilgit town would be available soon for implementation.