ISLAMABAD, Nov 24: Pakistan economy is facing $3 billion loss per annum due to environmental pollution.
A World Bank study (Mathew in 1997) stated that the environmental cost to Pakistan economy in six sectors was estimated as $1.8 billion, while in terms of urban air pollution, it was estimated at $369 million per year. This was associated with expenditures on health, economic and production loss due to absentees in factories, offices and schools.
The twin cities of Rawalpindi-Islamabad are among top five polluted cities of Pakistan, as air and other pollutions in these cities are increasing with a rapid speed.
The twin cities also face many environmental problems, including land erosion, loss of biodiversity, deforestation, limited freshwater supply, air and water pollution, and problems related to industrial and energy development.
The Pakistan Environment Protection Agency (PEPA) and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) carried out a joint study in three major cities including Rawalpindi, Islamabad and Lahore in order to assess the pollution levels in traffic-congested areas.
The average suspended particulate matters in our cities were 6.4 times higher than World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines and 3.8 times higher than Japanese standards. The levels of oxides of nitrogen, carbon monoxide and sulphur dioxide were found in excess of acceptable standards in some areas but the average levels were found below the set standards of WHO.
Presence of such high levels of suspended particulate matters in the air is certainly a matter of concern owing to its serious health implications for public.
Another serious issue is that of high content of lead in petrol, which presently is 0.35 gram/liter. Different studies have confirmed presence of high concentration of blood lead levels in school children, traffic police and adults. Road side air samples also showed high lead in air.
A United Nations study noted that the “concept of waste recycling, treatment, and disposal does not exist in the industrial sector in Pakistan. Even the highly polluted wastes are being discharged irrationally into waterbodies, on soil and in the air...industrial waste treatment systems are virtually non-existent in the country and those existing in a few industries, either technically do not meet the required standards or they are out of use or are non-operational.”
The PEPA report said although Islamabad had a few industrial units, they created high pollution levels. The natural dust generated by crushers also went up in the air and then it moved according to the wind direction. As the rainfall is getting less in Islamabad, this problem is further aggravating.
Vehicular pollution also becomes a serious problem, as a huge burden of traffic has been put on Kashmir Highway to decrease rush in Rawalpindi. There should be a bypass for this traffic in order to avert huge pollution in Islamabad.
The number of vehicles in Pakistan have jumped from 0.8 million to about 4.0 million within 20 years showing an overall increase of more than 400%. The average compound growth of vehicles is about 11 percent per annum. Since 1980, the maximum growth has been seen in 2-stroke vehicles i.e delivery vans, which is 1751%, followed by motorcycles 541% and rickshaws 159%. Diesel trucks and buses have also increased at an alarming rate of 200-300% since 1980.
Diesel vehicles due to overloading, faulty injection nozles and weak engines emit excessive graphitic carbon (visible smoke). This situation is very common in our country. Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF), which is a device used in many countries to control emission in diesel vehicles, cannot be used in Pakistan, as it requires low sulphur diesel i.e 0.05-0.5% sulphur (available diesel in market contains 1% sulphur).
Moreover, around 96,000 unchecked vehicles are running between Rawalpindi and Islamabad, which are greatly polluting the environment. It was found that a high level of nitrogen oxide was created by the traffic at Aabpara, which caused heart attacks by choking the arteries.