KARACHI, May 15: The Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) has urged the government to make laws bounding every private passenger bus, minibus and coach to switch to Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) mode

Addressing a news conference at PMA House here on Wednesday, general secretary PMA Karachi, Dr Habibur Rehman Soomro, urged the government to forcefully implement the traffic laws in the city.

He said that because of the increase in the traffic in the city and the smoke emitted by it, there had been an alarming rise in respiratory and eye and skin-related diseases and the birth of mentally restarted children.

He said the majority of vehicles causing pollution on the city roads were trucks, private buses, silencer-free rickshaws, taxis, wagons and coaches.

“The smoke emitted by them mainly contains lethal gases and chemicals like sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, and carbon dioxide, which have a negative impact on human health”, he said.

He said that through implementation of laws relating to vehicle fitness, regular checking of silencers and stringent punishments in case of emission of lethal gases, the problem could be tackled in an effective manner.

He it was praiseworthy that the Sindh government has expressed determination to switch all government-run buses to the CNG mode as it would greatly help reduce pollution level in Karachi.

He said that many countries had implemented laws for compulsory installation of CNG kits on the public transport vehicles, which had led to a positive impact on people’s health in those countries.

He urged people to extend support to the government moves to check the transport mafia through administrative means.—APP/PPI