Islamabad: The Ministry of Climate Change has drafted the ‘Pakistan Clean Air Program 2020’ after ranking as the second-most polluted country in the World Air Quality Report 2019, according to a news report published on October 17.
The new ‘clean air program’ lists down various interventions aimed at improving the general air quality – which is being polluted mainly by vehicles, industries, solid waste burning, and dust particles.
As per the report, four industrial cities of Pakistan – Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar, and Faisalabad – ranked amongst the world’s most polluted cities owing to disorganised and under-maintained transportation vehicles, excessive usage of fossil fuels to power factories and power plants, and the inefficient burning and disposal of solid waste.
Meanwhile, the incumbent government has taken various initiatives to rectify the above-mentioned pollutants, including the introduction of the electric vehicle policy, import of environmental-friendly Euro-V fuel, and halting industrial operations in 12 ‘most polluted’ districts of Punjab – for two months.
Additionally, most brick-kilns across the country have already been shifted to the environmentally-friendly Zig-Zag technology, but efforts are underway for the entire industry’s conversion.
