‘Coal-based power generation in India, Pakistan main cause of smog’

ISLAMABAD: The coal-based power generation in India and Pakistan is the main cause of increasing air pollution that has exposed both countries to dense smog putting the lives of the people at risk.

Arshad H Abbasi, an eminent energy expert said this while talking to The News. He said that he wrote a letter to the Punjab chief minister, chief secretary Punjab, and secretary of the Environment Protection Department offering his services to resolve the painful issue of smog. However, Abbasi said he didn’t receive any response from the Punjab government knowing the fact that health issues including asthma, lung damage, throat infections, stroke, heart problems, and shortened life expectancy are being brought on by heavy and prolonged exposure to hazardous air. He argued that the persistence and intensity of the haze currently enveloping parts of the country is the effect of the deeper problem of air pollution.

Though automobile emissions, burning of dried leaves, and other polluting activities are contributors, the single biggest factor that emerges on the scene is the use of coal for the generation of electricity in thermal power plants. The phenomenon of persisting fog during December and January has been increasing in Pakistan over the past 15 years. Its range also includes the Indo-Gangetic plain that stretches from Peshawar to Kolkata and beyond. The single largest contributor to air pollution in South Asia is coal-run thermal power generation.

The consumption of coal in South Asia during 2012 was around 685 million tons in total, out of which 98pc was used in India. The majority of this coal was consumed by the power sector. The share of electricity generated using coal as fuel in India is 71pc, 3.2pc in Bangladesh, and 0.1pc in Pakistan. A report by the Centre for Study of Science, Technology, and Policy in Bangalore reveals that the quality of Indian coal is very poor, with 35-45pc ash content and low heating value. Thus, the generation of one unit of electricity emits one kilo of carbon dioxide, annually, almost 200 million tons of ash are generated by coal in the power sector.

Pakistan needs to follow the ASEAN agreement to come up with a ‘Transboundary Haze Pollution’ model in South Asia. At the same time, other countries including Bangladesh, Bhutan, the Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, have to find the courage to ask India to end coal-based power generation.