PESHAWAR: Civil society organizations (CSOs) have endorsed the KP government policy to remove the smoke-emitting vehicles from the provincial metropolis.
A press release said the KP Transport Department has given private schools a one-week ultimatum to comply with its earlier orders to present their buses for mandatory inspection and certified as roadworthy. It warned that non-compliance would lead to the confiscation of vehicles. The directive is in line with a decision made in a July 1 meeting for student safety.
It said the so-called elite schools have long compromised the health of its young children, which is unethical and unlawful and needs to be challenged in the courts.The communication said the policy aligns with the mitigation of climate change and control of hazardous emissions with adverse health impacts on the population, especially the children and elderly, as their immune systems are more vulnerable to its toxic effects. It may be recalled, during the winter smog season, Peshawar and Lahore have topped being the most polluted cities of Pakistan, according to the Air Quality Index (AQI), which ranks the most polluted cities globally
Many subcontinent cities, especially Lahore, New Delhi, Peshawar, and Dhaka, have been ranked as the top polluted cities of the world by the AQI index.Additionally, recent health research published by the World Health Organisation has established a direct association between air pollution and many preventable diseases, especially cardiovascular, respiratory, and cancers.
The report established that air pollution caused over 9 million premature deaths annually. Therefore, all nations are under pressure to take effective measures to control air emissions, which also directly impacts global warming and climate change.
The press release said owing to the serious health challenges in Pakistan, the KP government has taken a timely to ban all smoke-emitting vehicles in the province to prevent high disease burden and costs and improve well-being of the citizens.
A report entitled Status of Air Quality in Peshawar launched by Peshawar Clean Air Alliance established that life expectancy had decreased by 3 to 5 years annually, caused by air pollution, mostly vehicular traffic, followed by industrial and other informal sources as top polluters in Peshawar.
The press release said it was ironic that the so-called elite schools in Peshawar are responsible for a high proportion of vehicular emissions contributing to toxic air pollution, besides directly affecting the cognitive and physical health of young children.
Recent medical research has established that young children are especially vulnerable to air pollution as their body systems are not fully developed and hence when they breathe polluted air it affects their brain functions, lungs, heart and wellbeing. Hence, not only are they prone to preventable diseases, but their normal development is compromised.
The CSOs said the health and safety of the students should be the uppermost priority of the KP government. The KP government should not retract from its stated policy to ban obsolete buses, which affect the health of the citizens of Peshawar.
The communication said the government should have a follow-up with a permanent ban on all smoke-emitting private and public transport in Peshawar and KP and impose heavy environmental penalties being the cause of serious health hazards to its citizens.