Once known as the city of flowers, Peshawar is nowadays engulfed by a thick-smoke emanating from a tsunami of rickshaws and brick kilns, forcing the residents to inhale the polluted air. Rather enjoying the fragrance of red roses, jasmine and other seasonal flowers of the spring season, Peshawarties are exposed to inhale the polluted air mostly caused by the smoke emanating from tsunami of unregistered rickshaws, taxis and wagons leading to the increase in cases of ENT, cough, chest and other seasonal infections.
Even, the thick black smoke could be seen with a naked eyes by the visitors while standing on top of the Surey Pul bridge near Balahisar fort due to axing of canopy trees and bulldozing of green belts by the PTI rulers to pay way for construction of an ill-planned BRT corridor, thus causing traffic jams during peak hours. “The wrong planning for BRT and bulldozing of green belts for its corridor by the then PTI government had aggravated air pollution and traffic jam problems in Peshawar’s Dabgari gardens, Firdus and Hastnagari,” said Riazul Haq, a former Education Department PST teacher and a resident of district Nowshera while talking to APP on Thursday.
The doctors, teachers, students and the government’s servants were also suffering to reach their respective destinations on time due to traffic jams and air pollution due to presence of dozens of bricks kilns operating in the Peshawar’s peripheries Patients in ambulances with their blaring sirens were also being seen stranded on GT road.—APP
