Lahore now the most polluted city in Pakistan?

As i discussed in my first blog that apart from all the good stuff about my city i shall also discuss my city's probems.

Today i read an article in the paper which was really very depressing to me, so i thought to share it with my readers in order to generate awareness abouth the problem of pollution in this beautiful city of ours.

A few snatches of that article are as under:

So much for “development”, so much for the overpasses, the underpasses, the Foodstreets, Jashn-e-Baharan, the Lahore Road, Rehabilitation Project, all of the PHA’s many “efforts”, beautification and so on. So much for it. Lahore is now the most polluted city in Pakistan. Surely someone should accept the fact that the medicine is killing the patient.

Rapidly increasing industrialization and commercialisation has turned the provincial metropolis — once known as the City of Gardens — into one of the most polluted cities in the country.

Even residential localities are not safe from increasing trends of commercialization and industrialization because many industrial zones, which were established some years ago outside the city, are now situated right in middle of the City.

According to a rough estimate, over 700 industrial units including a major chunk of steel-related industries are causing serious environmental hazards especially noise and air pollution in various localities of Northern Lahore. Majority of these industrial units are operating in residential localities posing serious threat to human life.

Besides residential areas, a good number of industrial and commercial ventures are operating around historical monuments i.e. Shalimar Garden, Lahore Fort and Badshahi Mosque. The Environment Department of the CDGL had already served notices to many of these ventures but in vain.

Sources in the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) revealed that as per Pakistan Environmental Protection Act, 1997 all industrial units i.e. cottage or large are supposed to obtain NOCs from the EPD but over 70 per cent industrial units operating in the city do not bother to fulfil this legal formality.

On the other hand, majority of citizens have appealed to Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif to pay attention on this vital and very important issue due to which the health of majority of the city residents is at stake. They also demanded immediate categorization of industrial, commercial and residential localities in the city, saying all industrial units should be shifted to industrial zones outside the city.

The above article clearly gives us the true picture of the grim reality of our city. We as a nation can make this stop from getting worse by making contributions on part of every citizen. I think we really do owe this much to our city.

The above mentioned article has been taken from THE NEWS of 24 september, 2009.