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FAISALABAD, Jan 10 (APP):Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (FCCI) Standing Committee on Research & Development (R&D) Engineer Ahmad Hassan Convener has demanded serious efforts at government and public level to control the chronic issue of smog.
Addressing a meeting, he explained staggering impacts of smog on human health and economy and said that 128,000 deaths were reported every year while 6.7pc losses were being incurred in terms of GDP. He said it was a global issue, but in Pakistan it had attained an alarming proportion while remedial steps were not up to the minimal threshold.
He said that on Tuesday evening, the Air Quality Index (AQI) was recorded at 306, which clearly indicated the severity of the issue. In developed countries, an emergency was declared immediately, but here the authorities concerned were seeking short-term relief, he added. He said that life expectancy had reduced four years while heart and lungs related ailments were increasing due to the continuous smog. He said that the government had made extensive legislation to control pollution under the global pressure, but these laws were not being implemented strictly. He said that the main cause of urban pollution was unburnt fuel emission of vehicles. “The government has decided to improve the quality of fuel up to Euro-5 by 2025 and Euro-10 by 2030 ,but we were still dwindling at Euro-2 quality fuel,” he said and added that there was no separate lane for cyclists and similarly there was no safe passage for the pedestrians. He said that the government must switch over to alternative and safe energy in addition to introducing electric vehicles to minimise the carbon footprints.
About Faisalabad, he said that there must be reliable and comfortable public transport to minimise the rush of private vehicles on roads. He said that parks in private housing colonies were being sold due to the criminal neglect of the regulators. He said that “being a responsible nation, we must discourage pollution at the individual level while government departments should also ensure strict implementation of the prevailing laws”.
Former President FCCI Muzammil Sultan, Muhammad Amjad Khawaja, Engineer Asim Munir, Abdullah Qadri and Abdul Qayum also participated in the discussion, while Dr. Arif delivered a lecture on the issue.