As the Earth Day is being observed in Pakistan like elsewhere in the world on 22ndApril, Monday, a concerned non-governmental organization has called upon the federal and provincial governments in the country to agree with complete consensus on a national charter to safeguard the environment before it is too late when the issue of environmental degradation becomes irreversible.
In a statement issued here on the eve of the Earth Day 2019, President of National Forum for Environment and Health (NFEH) Naeem Qureshi regretted that issue of environmental degradation in Pakistan had been exacerbating with each passing day.
The NFEH President appreciated the fact that the conservation of environment and combating the issue of climate change was one of the items on the top of the agenda of present federal government. But at the same time the coordination required has been almost missing among the centre and provincial governments to work with unanimity for the cause of environmental protection.
He said that the subject of Environment and Climate Change had been devolved completely to the provinces following the 18thConstitutional Amendment so it is now responsibility of the provincial governments to take measures to ensure environmental protection.
He lamented the situation that provincial governments were not being extended the financial and technical support they deserved by the centre to enhance their capacity to combat the alarming issue of environmental degradation and climate change.
The conservation of environment and combating the issue of climate change need a well measured common response
“Take for instance the case of Sindh where the provincial environmental watchdog lacks the capacity and resources it requires to combat the ever worsening issues of air, noise, and industrial pollution,” said the NFEH President.
He said the Sindh government had been constantly complaining that it had been facing serious fiscal shortfall due to release of less funds by the centre as due share of the province in the federal divisible pool. “When the Sindh government has been short of funds to meet its necessary recurring expenditures while its developmental spending is also being curtailed, nobody could expect from it to extend any special support to the Sindh Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) to enhance its capacity and improve its working,” he said.
He lamented the situation that with SEPA and other relevant agencies had been miserably failing to do their job as required under the Sindh Environmental Protection Act-2014, the issue like constant discharge of industrial effluents had been continuing without any check causing marine pollution and degradation of Pakistan’s coastline.
Mr. Qureshi said that seashore in Karachi had been turned into a massive waste dumping site as the relevant civic and government authorities including the SEPA had been doing nothing to reverse this alarming phenomenon.
“Karachi is supposed to be the engine of economic, business, and industrial growth for Pakistan but capacity of the city to host such activities will be massively hampered if its residents continue to face the issues of air, noise, and marine pollution that are also worsening with each passing day” he said.
The concerned authorities should wake up to this situation and take the due corrective measures on a war-footing basis before it is too late, he concluded.
