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ISLAMABAD, Sep 05 (APP):The intervention of Federal Ombudsman Ejaz Ahmad Qureshi has resolved the issue of long queues for vehicle environmental clearance at Islamabad’s D-Chowk.
Taking notice of numerous public complaints, the Federal Ombudsman directed that citizens should not be subjected to unnecessary inconvenience due to non coordinated policies. He instructed the district administration to adopt a structured awareness program and coordinate with the Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for future exercises, said in a Press Release issued here on Friday.
According to details, the Ombudsman summoned officials of the district administration and EPA after receiving complaints that vehicles were being subjected to lengthy environmental clearance checks without prior awareness campaigns. Despite the fact that issuance of environmental clearance certificates falls under the mandate of the EPA, the district administration had launched a campaign requiring vehicles to display stickers, causing citizens, including senior citizens and women to wait for hours in long lines.
The investigation revealed that the administration failed to announce which models or manufacturing years required clearance. Additionally, only one checkpoint was set up at D-Chowk for the inspection of thousands of vehicles, further compounding the problem.
Following the Ombudsman’s directives, the authorities clarified that the clearance was only required for vehicles manufactured up to the year 2015. This clarification and corrective action have now eliminated the long queues at D-Chowk.