Performance matters

Sindh is confronting multiple environmental challenges. Air pollution due to vehicular and industrial emissions; water pollution because of arsenic contamination of ground water and disposal of domestic sewage and industrial effluents into the water bodies; marine pollution as a result of untreated industrial waste's dumping into the sea; solid waste owing to mismanagement of garbage and loopholes in its collection mechanism, desertification due to felling of trees, water logging & salinity, noise pollution owing to use of pressure horns and of poor quality silencers; toxic and hospital waste, threat to biodiversity and indiscriminate use of pesticide and chemical fertiliser are the most alarming of them.
Under the dynamic leadership of Minister for Environment and Alternative Energy Sindh, Sheikh Muhammad Afzal (Khalid Umer) the monitoring and regulatory role of EPA Sindh has been revolutionised. More than three thousand five hundred industrial units and hospitals have been served on notices; a number of polluting industries were brought into the ambit of environmental compliance under Pakistan Environmental Protection Act 1997. Some polluting battery recycling smelters have been closed in suburbs of Hyderabad as EPA Sindh received several complaints against such environmental violations. Apart from this, development projects are being monitored and their owners are prevailed upon to make Environmental Impact Assessment/Initial Environmental Examination of their projects and get them reviewed from EPA Sindh to get approval of their projects.
In the last one year, more than three hundred industries were monitored; samples of more than one hundred thirty industries' effluents were scientifically analysed, out of them one hundred four industries were found violating the NEQS. Sixteen industries' cases of environmental violations were forwarded to Environmental Tribunal for prosecution and several others are in pipeline and would soon be forwarded to green court.
Quite recently, all the eighteen (18) Towns of Karachi were issued notices and were directed to stop the solid waste dumping and it's burning in an open area, land depressions, nallas etc and were asked to take immediate measures for collection and proper disposal of solid waste.
EPA Sindh has also boosted up monitoring of hospitals of both public and private sectors in the province to ensure proper management of hospital waste. In this regard public notices are published in leading newspapers to advise all hospitals, clinics, laboratory, dispensaries, pharmacies, nursing homes, blood banks, autopsy centers, mortuaries, medical research institutes, veterinary institutions including any other facility involved in healthcare and bio-medical research activities to strictly follow Hospital Waste Management Rules of 2005 for the environmentally safe disposal of infectious and hazardous waste of their setups. This year, total 94 healthcare units have been directed to comply the hospital waste management rules and submit waste management plan of their set ups
At provincial level, Environmental Protection Agency Sindh tried to address the issue of vehicular emission through its scheme Vehicular Emission Control Program (VECOP) which was started in November 2007 and would end in June 2011. Thereafter, as per provision of its PC-I, its strength would be merged into regular strength of EPA Sindh. This project envisages installation of four vehicular emission testing stations (VETS), two in Karachi and one each in Hyderabad and Sukkur, while rest of the urban spots of the province would be covered through mobile stations. The prime objective of the scheme is to control the rapidly degrading air quality of the urban centers of Sindh and to reduce level of pollutants.
Under the said scheme a Green Squad inspects the vehicles at various preselected locations to identify and penalise the vehicles if found emitting above the limits stipulated by National Environmental Quality Standards. Emissions and noise level of the vehicles are checked through latest gas and smoke analysers. In collaboration with traffic police, vehicles are penalised on the spot if found exceeding the National Environmental Quality Standards (NEQS). So far more than ten thousand vehicles have been checked under VECOP out of which 30 per cent found exceeding the emission limits set by NEQS.
This is first time in the history that World Environment Day 2011 is celebrated all over the Sindh at the grassroots level and all districts governments and town/taluka municipal administrations have been taken on board to organise series of awareness activities on this occasion. Guidelines to observe World Environment Day were also issued to guide district governments to celebrate this day of environmental significance with a good blend of colourful activities. As a result, in Karachi only, more than seventy activities are being organised at Town level which is sufficient to reflect the interest of public in commemorating this day to revive their pledge for the protection and conservation of environment.