city’s environmental health. Recently, EPD launched a massive operation against hospital waste but citizens feared that this crackdown may ended like the previous operations during which only notices were issued to the culprits instead of taking strict action against them.
It is worth mentioning that since last many years, the government and city planners made repeated announcements that light and heavy industrial units operating in various residential city localities i.e. Misri Shah, Baghbanpura, Mughalpura, Daroghawala, Bhagatpura, Chah Miran, Shad Bagh and others along the Bund Road and GT Road would be shifted outside these residential areas. But, unfortunately not a single practical step had been taken in this regard. These industries included steel foundries, steel re-rolling mills, brick kilns, steel furnaces, scrapyards, plastic recycling industry, marble grinding, furniture making and several other kinds of cottage industries. These industrial units are causing air pollution, noise, vibration and heat.
Besides these industrial clusters, the regular industrial zones have now been surrounded by residential localities due to which citizens are forced to bear the hazardous effects of pollution caused by industries. Small drives were launched repeatedly against violators but a serious action is still awaited.
As per Pakistan Environmental Protection Act, 1997 all industrial units are supposed to obtain NOC from EPD but over 90 percent units, including industrial units operating in the city, did not bother to fulfill this legal formality. The lack of enforcement of rules to discourage polluters has made the EPD a toothless tiger, sources said.
Naseem-ur-Rehman, a senior EPD official said the department had taken a number of steps to bring down the pollution levels. He said tree plantation was the biggest source through which pollution could be brought down. He said the department had already engaged private sector for this activity and a large number of fruit trees would be planted in various city areas very shortly.