ISLAMABAD: PPP Senator Sherry Rahman stated that pollution claims 256,000 lives in Pakistan each year — more than the number of deaths caused by terrorism.
Senator Sherry Rehman stated this while chairing a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Climate Change. She called for strong action to tackle Pakistan’s escalating smog and air pollution crisis. She expressed strong disappointment over the lack of credible data, incomplete statistics, and unverified numbers.
“Pollution is a serial killer. It kills more Pakistanis annually than terrorism, latest WHO figures show 256,000 annual deaths,” she remarked.
The meeting began with a presentation on smog by the Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency — smog was described as a severe form of air pollution that becomes more intense during the winter.
While expressing dissatisfaction over the report, she said, “It is very unfortunate that the Ministry of Climate Change and EPA could not make a credible presentation on the subject after three months of notice from the Standing Committee. The Clean Air Policy made in 2023 was neither updated nor referenced.”
She added that Lahore now shares rankings with Delhi in global pollution indices, with toxic air reducing life expectancy by 3.7 to 4.6 years. Pakistan remains the third most polluted country in the world. Throughout the meeting, Senator Rehman repeatedly questioned the credibility and preparedness of the Environmental Protection Agency’s presentation.
“There are no stats, no numbers, no data. You’re unable to give a proper presentation. This is not credible—you have jumped straight to mitigation without explaining the problem. This is a kindergarten-level presentation. I will not review something like this again.”
When briefed that only 800 vehicles were inspected out of 50,000, Senator Rehman expressed concern at the extremely low enforcement. She also questioned why Islamabad has only one air quality monitoring station, stating that “an air monitor should be installed every two kilometres.”
Senator Rehman shared some key statistics that smog affects 11 million children under five in Punjab’s worst-hit areas. Children breathe twice as fast as adults, making them more vulnerable to respiratory disease. Air pollution costs Pakistan USD 22 billion annually, nearly 6.5percent of GDP, according to the World Bank.
Senator Rehman noted with interest that transportation is now the single largest contributor, adding that dust—a major pollutant in Lahore — remains overlooked.
The Committee also discussed public health impacts with the National Institute of Health. The NIH representative briefed the committee that elderly, children, and those with cardiovascular or pulmonary diseases are most at risk.
Senator Rehman noted that influenza vaccines and testing kits were unavailable in ICT until recently.” She questioned the Ministry of National Health Service’s role: “Do you have any power to enforce anything? What is your ministry doing? What is your work exactly? You couldn’t even tell me your mandate despite spending 14 billion annually.”
Balochistan’s EPA DG identified brick kilns, crushing plants, deforestation, dust, and transportation as major contributors. Senator Rehman requested clear data on total crushing plants and expressed dissatisfaction at the lack of quantifiable numbers.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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