Year-2008 to be declared environment protection year: Senate body
By Asghar Ali Mubarak

ISLAMABAD—The Senate Standing Committee on Environment (Environment and Housing & Works), which met at the Parliament House Thursday under the Chairmanship of Senator Muhammad Ali Brohi, has expressed its concern over the rapidly increasing environmental pollution being caused mainly by vehicular emissions and other sources like industrial units, tanneries, brick kilns, dust etc. It called for damage control by undertaking viable plans to check the environmental pollution and degradation, which is fast becoming a threat to the economy of the country besides exercising its baneful and negative impact on the lives of the people.
The Committee was of the view that poorly maintained public and private transport plying on the roads is giving out a lot of smoke into the air and underscored the need that vehicular inspection system should be introduced in all the four provinces to check emissions and to take action against those violating the rules. The Committee also suggested that the year 2008 should be declared as “Environment Protection Year” and campaigns should be launched to create public awareness about the hazards of the environmental pollution and steps should be taken to reduce the air pollutants by involving all the stakeholders. It was also suggested that all the policies aimed at checking various types of pollutions should be approved from the current interim setup and all out efforts be made to implement them at the national level. It was also suggested that more funds should be allocated to the provinces for checking the pollution. The members of the Committee were happy to note that the recommendations given earlier have been fully implemented.
Earlier, the Committee was given a detailed briefing on the policies formulated and implemented by the Ministry of Environment to prevent pollution of environment in the country and the progress made on the recommendations of the Standing Committee in its meeting held in September this year. Mr. Asif Shuja, Director General, Pakistan Environment Protection Agency (PAK-EPA) informed that “Clean Air Programme” has been prepared taking input from all the stakeholders, which would help achieve the desired objective. He said that the programme would soon be approved by the Cabinet for further necessary action. He however, said that the percentage of various kinds of air pollutants was still much higher than the WHO standards and international parameters. The members of the Committee termed increase in air pollution as a national issue and assured their all out support to the Ministry of Environment in overcoming the various difficulties, it is facing in the smooth implementation of environment related policies.
The meeting was attended, among others, by Senators Hafiz Abdul Malik Qadir, Dr. Abdul Khaliq Pirzada, Sardar Mehmud Khan, Syed Muhammad Hussain and Muhammad Saleh Shah. Mr. Sami Khilji, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Environment, DG (PEPA) and provincial representatives of EPA were also present on the occasion.
The members of the Committee termed increase in air pollution as a national issue and assured their all out support to the Ministry of Environment in overcoming the various difficulties, it is facing in smooth implementation of environment related policies. The meeting was attended, among others, by Senators Hafiz Abdul Malik Qadir, Dr. Abdul Khaliq Pirzada, Sardar Mehmud Khan, Syed Muhammad Hussain and Muhammad Saleh Shah. Sami Khilji, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Environment, DG (PEPA) and provincial representatives of EPA were also present.