PCAA launches drive to improve air quality in Peshawar

PESHAWAR: A campaign has been launched for ensuring improved air quality in the provincial capital following the formation of a civil society organization, a press release said.

It added that the Peshawar Clean Air Alliance (PCAA) is a volunteer association of civil society individuals and groups sharing a common vision of air quality for the city.

The PCAA is an alliance of civil society activists, academia, researchers, environment and health experts, media and policy making representatives aiming to to find ways and measures to tackle the toxic emissions that pose a direct threat to health and contribute to climate change.

“This is the beginning of a long drawn process that will eventually encompass all major cities of Pakistan for a comprehensive Clean Air Act policy document. However, a pilot project has been launched in Peshawar which shall be later replicated in other major cities of Pakistan,” the press release pointed out.

PCAA’s Vision “is to increase the total number of clean air days in Peshawar to over 100 a year by 2025 - primarily by cutting levels of air pollution at source, while simultaneously encouraging behavioural changes within us,” it added.

According to the PCAA, Peshawar is one of the largest cities in Pakistan with an estimated population (2017) of approximately 1.9 million. In 2018, the Pakistan Air Quality Initiative found Peshawar to be the fifth most polluted city in the country, with over 183 unhealthy air quality days.

The press release said it is difficult to be more specific about ambient air pollution in Peshawar due to lack of air quality monitoring equipment and research into the health impacts of air pollution in Peshawar.

It listed the actions and formation of working groups such as Air Pollution Research and Monitoring, Health Impacts Research, Emissions Control and Membership, Communication and Media as the start of a journey towards achieving the PCAA’s Vision.