Islamabad: The Balochistan government has announced its decision to install 10 new ‘Air Quality Monitoring Stations’ (AQMS) along the province’s border areas in order to keep track of air quality levels, a news source reported.
Lab Incharge Engineer Muhammad Khan from the Balochistan Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) stated that the provincial government had allocated PKR 600 million for this project. He added that the departments concerned would install AQMS at various areas; including Chaman, Gwadar, Taftan, Hub, Khuzdar, and Loralai.
The government recently banned two-stroke rickshaws in order to control pollution levels. Khan revealed that EPA teams had the proper gadgets in order to check the emissions of vehicular fleets at random.
The official revealed that Balochistan EPA had been collecting air quality data since 2003, and plans to make it online. He added that the provincial government had declared the Astola Island as a marine-protected area. He also stated that the EPA was working to protect the environment of Charna Island situated near Karachi.
