Industrial units in Islamabad bound to install anti-pollution devices

Islamabad: All industrial units in Islamabad are bound to install anti-pollution devices to control air emissions that also cause smog in the capital city.

According to the official record of the climate change ministry, the government introduced National Environmental Quality Standards (NEQS) after which it has powers to take action against those industrial units that have so far not installed anti-pollution devices.

Now the ministry has directed the Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency (Pak-EPA) to monitor the ambient air quality data of Islamabad on daily basis. The ministry has also received a report from Islamabad Traffic Police (ITP) that showed 25, 000 to 30, 000 vehicles enter into ICT through three main entrances every day.

An official said the factors that cause smog in Islamabad include vehicular emissions; release of pollution from chimneys of steel mills and marble factories; brick kilns that have not adopted zigzag technology to reduce emissions; and burning of solid waste.

He said the zigzag technology was introduced with the cooperation of the All Pakistan Brick Kiln Owners Association and the government directed the owners of brick kilns to adopt the new tool by the end of 2020. The official said the brick kilns that have not adopted zigzag technology are now operating at night to avoid raids of the inspection teams but they have introduced an online monitoring mechanism using video software that provides real-time data about toxic black fumes emitted from the brick kilns.

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam has said that the government has taken several steps including the installation of scrubbers on steel mills and ban on crop burning besides introducing an alternative ‘zero tillage seeding’ technology. He said, “We are also working hard to increase the number of electric vehicles that will help reduce emission of carbon dioxide in the air.”