The Vehicular emissions have marred the ambient air pollution of the federal capital where the particulate matter 2.5 microns (particle pollution) has been recorded at the highest ratio of 41.63 micrograms per meter cube.
Vehicular emissions comprise 43 percent of the total ambient air pollution in the country whereas the federal capital’s air quality is deteriorating with increasing number of vehicles spewing dark smoke.
Talking to APP, Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Director General Farzana Altaf Shah said there were two main sources of air pollution in the federal capital namely industrial and automobile emissions.
“The air quality recorded during Ramadan month and summer vacation in the capital has ideal level of declined pollutants, but with the reopening of schools and colleges, it has again attained dangerous level of pollutants with their smoke emitting buses and vans,” she added.
The EPA DG said the agency was issuing notices to all the private and public institutions, particularly schools, colleges and universities, ministries, and motels to properly maintain their fleets of buses and vans. “Our teams equipped with proper gadgets visit the institutions at random to check emissions of vehicular fleet,” she added.
Farzana, however, admitted that all the buses, whether running on intercity routes or on city roads, were using non-compliant diesel fuel containing high ratio of hazardous sulphur dioxide.
Contrary to the EPA’s claims, smoke emitting vehicles in large number, including buses of educational institutions, can be seen running across the twin cities polluting the air without any check and balance.
Board (PITB) Dashboard to track dengue activity.
Massive cleanup operations have been carried out in Tarnol and Rawat in collaboration with Sanitation directorate of MCI for removal of all the garbage and solid waste that can act as harboring sites, he added.
He noted that managements of all government and private healthcare facilities in Islamabad have been taken on board and dedicated WhatsApp groups have been created to ensure timely receipt and disbursement of information. Accordingly, daily reports are being generated.
