Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: Air pollution causes the death of more than
22,000 adults and 700 children in Pakistan every year
in addition to a loss of Rs 365 billion to the
country’s economy annually, says a report.
The World Conservation Union (IUCN), in a recent
report, quoted the World Bank’s assessments on
environmental degradation and pointed out that the
most significant impacts of environmental damage were
illness and premature mortality caused by air
pollution, diarrhoeal diseases and typhoid due to
contaminated water supply, and lack of sanitation and
hygiene.
The report said that waste management in Pakistan was
extremely weak as no city in Pakistan except for
Islamabad and Karachi had wastewater treatment
facilities.
In Karachi, approximately 325 million gallons per day
(MDG) of wastewater is generated, the majority of
which ends up in the Indus Delta through Lyari and
Malir rivers. The city has a waste treatment capacity
for only 237 MDG if it works to maximum capacity. Most
of the untreated domestic effluent and industrial
waste ends up in the Indus Delta.
The report said that solid waste management was in a
similar condition. Most of the waste does not get
collected because of inadequate collection mechanisms.
Furthermore, there is no sanitary landfill in the
country. Only recently a proper landfill at
Mahmoodbooti in Lahore has been constructed. Domestic
waste is generally dumped in open areas, creating
numerous problems such as drain blockages and fatal
consumption by domestic animals.
Hazardous waste from industrial facilities, hospitals
and laboratories is not treated any differently. In
most cases, hazardous waste is dumped at open sites,
often leading to fatalities, especially of children.
Only a few medical facilities in the country have
incinerators or other specialised waste management
systems to handle infectious waste.
Pakistan also does not have any facilities to handle
and treat industrial hazardous waste, which is usually
dumped at unknown places.
Globally, the report said although Pakistan’s total
contribution to global greenhouse emissions is less
than one percent, the impact of climate change on the
country’s population and economy is much more.
The report said that the adverse impacts of climate
change are already apparent in the form of increased
glacial melt, prolonged droughts, unusual temperature
fluctuations and precipitation variability.
The effects of these phenomena on food production,
water supply, biodiversity, natural ecosystem and
human health not only threaten the integrity of the
country’s primarily natural resource-based economy but
also jeopardise the livelihoods of those who depend on
the natural environment and the valuable goods and
services that they provide.
The report said that the impact assessment studies of
key sectors indicated water resources and agriculture
as high priority sectors of extensive climate change
impacts with implications on livelihoods of the
population and the national economy.