A recent World Health Organisation (WHO) report
reveals that ambient and household air pollution in cities cause a horrible
figure of 6.5 million premature deaths every year globally. And, it is an open
secret the air quality in Karachi is highly unsatisfactory, if not fully unsafe,
because of presence of heavy smoke in the atmosphere and also resulting in rising
numbers of serious diseases particularly allergic, respiratory and cardiac
illnesses in recent times.
The major ambient or outdoor pollution sources
include: vehicles, power generation, building heating system and industrial,
agricultural and hospitals’ incinerations. While indoors people are also prone
to various polluting technologies and fuels for household cooking, heating,
lighting, releasing smoke into the home and leaching pollutants outdoors.
With the city of Lahore severely hit by smog last
month and predictable widening of smog horizon in the region, there is an
urgency that the authorities of Karachi must give a proper focus in regards to
air pollution to save citizens from growing environmental hazards. At present
the air in Karachi is largely being polluted by automobile smoke, specially
Rickshaws and Buses, industrial emissions, open burning of garbage, house fires
and other particles. It is high time the Sindh Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) and Metropolitan’
health and municipal services departments must act immediately in this regard.
It must not be forgot that last year the WHO in a
report ranked Karachi the fifth most polluted city in the world. The report
ranked 1600 cities of 91 countries for quality of their air, which is measured
for concentrations of particulate matters (PM10
and PM2.5), two major
harmful pollutants that can cause serious diseases.
NUMBEO is the world’ largest database of user
contributed data about cities and countries, which provides current and timely
information on living conditions including cost of living, health, traffic,
crime, pollution and etc. According to NUMBEO, Karachi’ present Air pollution
level of PM10
and PM2.5 are 290 and 88
respectively which is extremely high as suggest by WHO standards. It also
says pollution index of Karachi is 95.65 and Pollution EXP scale is 172.6.
It is also unfortunate that Karachi is one of the few
cities in the world who haven’t have their own air quality index -- a criterion
of computing used by government authorities to address to the public about the
concentration of pollution in the air. The air quality monitoring exercises of
SEPA are erratic and the provincial agency never analysed or documented it’s
data to predict future pollution level. The Environmental Monitoring Stations
in the city installed at the head office of SEPA in Korangi and Deputy Commissioner,
Central’ office in North Nazimabad are dysfunctional and the only environmental
monitoring van in the city is longer remained mobile.
Humans health relies on air quality which is also closely
linked to earth’ climate and ecosystems globally. The city administration
should come up to devise and implement a brief strategy to improve the quality
of air before breathing becomes impossible in Karachi.
By
Editorial, Infocus
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