By Hina Kiyani
ISLAMABAD: The air quality of the federal capital remained healthy for the second consecutive day on Wednesday as the atmospheric pollutants remained below the threshold of the national environmental quality standards.
The Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency (Pak-EPA) daily air quality report indicated a reduced ratio of air pollutants, recorded below permissible limits. The agency is responsible to ensure the protection of the environment under the Pakistan Environmental Protection Act 1997. The hazardous air pollutant particulate matter of 2.5 microns (PM2.5), which was a hazardous atmospheric contaminant, remained 28 micro grammes per cubic meter on average which was lower than the national environmental quality standards (NEQS) of 35 mic-programmes per cubic meter and denoted the air quality healthy.
PM 2.5 is generated through the combustion of an engine, industrial emissions, burning garbage or inflammable material and dust blown up by fast-moving cars plying on non-cemented patches of the roads.
The ratio of nitrogen dioxide and sulphur dioxide (NO2&SO2 respectively) also remained below the NEQS that were mostly produced during the industrial emissions from the factories involving complex and extraordinary chemicals’ use in production processes.
The NO2 remained 11.64 microgrammes per cubic meter and SO2 was 12.14 microgrammes per cubic meter.
The EPA officials claimed that the vehicular emissions due to increased automobiles was one of the leading cause of bad air quality. Industrial emissions were already subsided due to carbon-absorbing advanced technology installed at various steel manufacturing units.
Earlier, the Environmental Monitoring Team of the Pak-EPA and the Islamabad Traffic Police conducted a week-long Vehicular Emission Control and Monitoring Campaign from January 9 to 17 across the federal capital.
During the campaign, a total of 383 vehicles were inspected across various categories, including 80 buses, 47 vans, 30 cars, 120 minitrucks, 93 trucks, and 13 tractors. However, heavy transport vehicles (HTV) using diesel fuel were identified as the primary contributors to smoke emissions, with fines imposed on 27% of the vehicles.
A rigorous test of soot carbon smoke emissions led to the imposition of 105 fines on vehicles exceeding the NEQS emission levels by over 40% against the Ringelmann scale.
The initiative aimed to address the growing concern about air pollution in Islamabad caused by vehicular emissions. The basic objective of the survey was to ascertain the factual position of vehicular emissions during the dry spell of winter and their contribution to the formulation of smog in the current fog episode.
According to health experts, the prolonged dry winters resulted in the perpetuated presence of hazardous air contaminants in the atmosphere that made respiratory diseases and pneumonia endemic in the federal capital.
The population of the metropolis witnessed an abnormal rise in fog as well which was thicker and more adamant then the previous years.
Official of the Ministry of Climate Change and Environmental Coordination told APP that there was no let up in air pollution and fog since the onset of the winters due to dry weather, increased anthropogenic activities and shifts in the weather pattern resulting in unprecedented polluted air in the federal capital.
Climatologists and weather experts are compiling the data on the phenomenon to track and trace the exact causes of the peculiar weather occurrence that resulted in losses due to air and land route disruption, health impacts and social disruption due to halt or closure of educational institutions.
