POOR quality fuel — Euro I and II — and rickety old jalopies belching poisonous fumes from their tailpipes are spreading poison for all of us. The lax emission control standards and an inadequate control on quality of fuel are polluting the whole country, especially the urban areas to a slow death.

The high emission of improperly burnt fuel, especially diesel and gasoline from two-stroke vehicles and worn-out engines, is adding toxic CO2, sulphur dioxide and nitrous oxides to the air that we breathe.

According to an ambient air quality review in Pakistan, the concentration of particulate material, sulphur dioxide and nitrous oxides, has risen dangerously higher than the WHO air quality standards. The share of poor quality fuel and badly maintained vehicles in this air quality deterioration is more than 60 per cent compared to an average of 15pc in advanced industrialised countries.

The reason of for the low percentage in advanced countries is the use of high quality fuel and a very stringent emission control inspection regime.

It is time the government took this slow death engulfing us seriously and introduced a strict emission control policy along with an improved quality of fuel like in the rest of the world.

Brig (r) Raashid Wali Janjua
Islamabad

Published in Dawn, July 8th, 2020