Pollution is a major environmental problem in the
most developing as well as developed countries. Most of these countries such as
U.S have been quite successful in solving these problems by passing out certain
environmental laws and producing alternatives to such sources which cause a lot
of pollution such as coal and oil power stations. There are also laws which
make sure that the waste from the industries is being disposed off correctly
and is not in any way harmful to the environment. However in Pakistan the
pollution problems have been rising since it got its independence. Very few
people have concern about the negative effects of pollution on themselves as
well as their environment. Hence this problem is increasing day by day which
may lead in the destruction of our natural environment as well as our own. In
Pakistan there are three major sources of pollution
1. Air Pollution: in
Pakistan the most common source of air pollution is mainly vehicles whose
exhaust fumes pollute the air. Unlike other developed countries where there are
catalyc converters and efficient vehicles which may cause less pollution, the
situation in Pakistan is totally opposite. As most of the people are poor they
don’t have enough money to repair or spend money on their vehicles so that they
can become environment friendly. Even the car manufacturers don’t make their
cars much environment friendly and the people are forced to buy these cars.
More fuel is burned as most roads of Pakistan are broken and there are a lot of
traffic jams which increases the journey time. Many industries in big cities
such as Karachi and Lahore give out harmful pollutants such as sulphur dioxide
and carbon monoxide. The government and the authorities take little concern
about these industries. As a result of this the sky of Lahore and Karachi are
covered with thick smog .This may lead to many respiratory diseases and may
also be harmful to the animals living in such places. Even in Islamabad, the
cleanest city in Pakistan I could see thick smog over the city from the
Margalla hills and while traveling to Murree there was so much of exhaust fumes
from vehicles that we had to keep our car windows closed.
2. Water
Pollution: this is a major problem in Pakistan. There are many
sources of water pollution in Pakistan. Most of them are found in Karachi as it
is an area of industries. Although it is a government policy to filter the
industrial water and then release it into the sea many industries here are
dumping contaminated water in seas thereby increasing the threat of
extinction of marine life as well as
polluting the water. Almost the whole of city’s sewerage is dumped into rivers
and the sea. As a result of this Karachi is facing many problems in the access
of clean water and most parts of the city are still without water. Even in my
home we get 2 small tankers weekly as there is no water in the supply. The oil
spill incident has increased the amount of pollution in the sea as well as has
caused most of the beaches to be polluted. It is said that the oil spill
disaster from Tasman Spirit has killed hundreds and thousands of fishes as well
as destroyed much of the marine life. It has also caused eye infections and
respiratory problems to those living near the sea. Further leakages in
pipelines have polluted the clean water which we have so little of.
3. Land Pollution: As
Pakistan is not a rich country, it doesn’t have enough money to spend on waste
disposal systems. As a result most of the home waste and other kinds of wastage
is usually thrown away on empty plots next to the houses and is then burned
which may be harmful to the people living in the area. Only less than 5% of the
waste is recycled and most of it is disposed directly on the ground. There are
only a few garbage cans along the roads so people living far away have to
dispose off their waste somewhere else. This attracts flies which then spread
diseases. Apart from this, the rubbish thrown would disintegrate in a 1000
years from now. Hence an increase in land pollution may in turn slowly destroy
our natural environment which is already at risk.
SOLUTIONS TO THE POLLUTION PROBLEMS
Here are a few solutions to the pollution problems faced by Pakistan:
Air Pollution:
Instead of using private cars we must use public
transport more often and walk for short distances.
There should be a greenbelt constructed in big
cities such as Karachi. The trees in the green belt would reduce the amount of
fumes in the air and give out clean oxygen.
We should use unleaded petrol in our vehicles. It
is already available at most petrol stations. Unleaded petrol is more efficient
for the car and is less harmful to the environment.
Most of the leading car manufacturers should
install catalyc converters in their
2. Water pollution:
a)The factory waste should be first filtered and
then disposed properly into sea or river. If this is not done, then the
government should take legal action against them.
b)Instead of using clean water, we can use the
filtered industrial water for flushing toilets, watering the plants and washing
the cars.
c)The government should ask the local citizens for
proper beach cleaning once in a year. Besides it should also fine those people
who throw their waste into the sea or river.
d)There must be a regular cleaning of all the
canals and channels by the government workers.
e) The government should pass strict environmental
laws concerning oil spill
f)We must all cooperate with one another to save
our marine life as much as possible.
3.Land Pollution:
a)Instead of throwing
all our rubbish away we can give some of it for recycling such as old
newspapers etc. we must also reuse polythene bags for other purposes such as
for carrying things.
b) There must be a landfill area where all the rubbish
can be disposed off. There must also be incinerators where the remaining
garbage can be burned.
c)The government should
place garbage cans and bins in many places so that people can throw their
rubbish there.
d)We can play a part by
throwing plastic wrappers and other kinds of waste into the garbage cans and
not on the roads.
e) We can also help by keeping our environment around
us clean as well as educating others to do so.
f) All the shop keepers must use paper bags instead of
polythene ones. These
are more environments friendly and can be recycled.
By Qasim Mahmood
