ISLAMABAD, Oct 29: Rising air pollution is threatening Margalla hills, the beauty of Islamabad, and if timely measures are not taken these mountains will be completely engulfed in smog in about three decades; according to an environmentalist.
“It’s the massive air pollution and dust which is spoiling the beauty of the Margalla mountains and you even cannot have a clear vision of them from Faizabad bridge because of the thick smog,” a senior official of the Pakistan Environment Protection Agency told Dawn.
The major cause of this smog, he added, was the increasing number of vehicles in the city. According to data gathered by Dawn from the deputy commissioner’s office; around 300,000 cars were registered by the city’s excise and taxationdepartment during the last over four decades and on average 35,000 vehicles were registered during the last two years.
Currently, around 120 vehicles, including motorcycles, are being registered on a daily basis.
“Other than vehicular pollution, the city also has several industrial units in I-9 sector which are causing major air pollution,” said the Pak-EPA official.
If the current pace of registration of vehicles continued, he said, there will be more air pollution in the city. “After about three decades, Islamabad will be among the cities engulfed with smog.”
One of the old residents of the city, Imanat Ali, a retired civil servant, added: “In the 1980s when you entered the city from G.T. Road at Rawat you could have an eye-catching glimpse of Faisal Mosque and the Margalla mountains in daytime, becausethere was hardly any air pollution.”
“Today if someone drives towards Islamabad from Koral Chowk, the Margalla mountains and even the Faisal Mosque are hardly visible which indicates that something is wrong with the city’s atmosphere.”
The EPA official warned that the city needed immediate preventive measures for containing the air pollution and the best one was the introduction of the much-needed mass transit rail or bus system.
Islamabad has still no major transport system other than wagons plying between the twin cities and the Capital Development Authority has failed to resolve the issue.
“Someone has to save the city from this air pollution and the concern agencies - CDA, ICT administration and the citizens - have to give their input for reduction of pollution otherwise the city will lose its beauty,” said the official.
He said inhalation of smog would have a negative impact on the health of citizens specifically those who used to walk in the morning or evening.
A senior physician at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences also warned that smog inhalation can damage lining in the lungs.
“The damage to lining of the lungs means that you may have trouble in breathing, including wheezing, coughing and chest pain,” remarked the physician.
He said exposure to smog also weakened the human immune system for fighting bacterial infections.