BEIJING, Feb 23 (APP): Punjab Province has great potential to tap end-of-pipe pollution control, an approach that concentrates on effluent treatment or filtration before waste discharges into the environment.
This was stated by Chu Yangxi, an associate research professor at the Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, who, along with two other Chinese environmental experts, visited Lahore last month and witnessed pollution problems.
The province could take adequate measures to control sulfur dioxide emissions, Chu said.
Local authorities invited the trio to Lahore in the hope of learning from China’s successful efforts to restore clean air and blue skies over Beijing in only a decade.
Chu had previously participated in international exchange programs on air quality management. However, the trip to Pakistan was different, as China Daily reported.
It was my first time visiting a country involved in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) for an activity in which I am in a position to provide scientific and technological support,” he said.
“China has received an increasing number of requests from developing countries to learn from their experiences in improving air quality as they themselves enter a development stage China has already undergone.”
“What makes China’s efforts appealing to them is that the country has seen its air quality improve while expanding its economy at a similar pace,” experts said.
“The different strategies deployed to control air pollution, which take into account complex national conditions, also make China a good exemplar of air quality management solutions,” they said.
In November, Chinese experts were asked to speak about the country’s air pollution control efforts with senior officials in Punjab via an online meeting.
However, the Punjab government was still eager to arrange a field visit for them for more exchanges, Chu said.
During their stay in Pakistan, the Chinese team exchanged with nine departments and visited industrial enterprises.
They also met Mohsin Raza Naqvi, the Punjab caretaker chief minister.