KARACHI: Participants of a dialogue were informed on Wednesday that Karachi for last several years lacked any proper mechanism to monitor its air quality at such time when harmful industrial and vehicular emissions, burning of municipal waste, constant cutting of trees and rapid commercialization had irreversibly damaged environment of the city. The Dialogue on “Air quality & Climate change: A case of Karachi” was jointly organized by National Forum for Environment and Health and EMC Pakistan Pvt. Ltd. Sindh Transport Minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah was the chief guest on the occasion. A large number of noted environmentalists, academicians, public representatives, industrialists, and Govt. officials concerned attended the dialogue. Participants of the dialogue were informed that city lacked any mechanism to lawfully stop use of motor vehicle, which had become old and was constantly emitting pollutants. One such programme, which had been launched some years back by provincial government with proper procurement of monitoring equipment and hiring of staff, after proper allocation of budget, was abandoned without any valid cause. They were also told that Air Quality Monitoring Stations of Sindh Environmental Protection Agency were no more in use for last six to seven years while one such programme of SUPARCO to monitor level of air and water pollution had been abandoned some ten years back. This all happened when environment of the city has been constantly exposed to a number of hazardous gasses causing repercussions for health of the citizens. The audience was informed that though Sindh had adopted its own environmental quality standards after adopting provincial environmental protection law in 2014 but it had no binding limitations for industries to reduce harmful emissions of hazardous gasses by them. EMC representative Saquib Ejaz Hussain said in his presentation on the occasion said that the air quality of the city had severely deteriorated due to rapid urbanization so much so that Karachi had been termed as fifth most polluted city of the world according to a report of World Health Organization in 2016. He said that tree cutting continued unabated in the city for last several years to give way to rapid urbanization so much so that vegetation cover of the city had decreased from two per cent from seven per cent back in 2008. He said that tree cutting in urban centres to be criminalized so to punish people who had been constantly damaging environment for their vested commercial interests. Farzana Altaf, director-general of Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency (PEPA), said that use of non-degradable plastic bags in Islamabad capital territory had been controlled up to 70 per cent as provincial governments should also follow suit and adopt such measures to prevent further harm to environment. DG PEPA said that she had been able to convince industries and businesses of the federal capital and of its surrounding areas to fully adhere to national environmental quality standards while the provinces should also adopt similar approach to persuade industries to adopt such provincial environmental standards on voluntary basis rather to lawfully enforce them. President of Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry Shamim Ahmed Firpo said that industries should fulfill their obligation regarding protection of environment by setting up waste water treatment plant on their own without waiting any more for government’s support for this cause. Shabbar Rizvi, Dean of Civil and Architecture Faculty of NED University of Engineering & Technology, said that constant phenomenon of congestion of vehicular traffic in the city had led to the problem of air quality deterioration. Gulzar Firoz, Chairman of Standing Committee on Environment of FPCCI, said that industries had to fulfill their responsibilities for decreasing level of hazardous gasses in environment causing alarming increase in respiratory illnesses among citizens of the city. He said that Sindh, federal governments, and private sector had to combine their forces to effectively tackle the issue of air quality deterioration occurring at a fast pace. In his concluding remarks, Sindh Transport Minister Nasir Hussain Shah said that Sindh government was fully committed to revive the proposed system of Karachi Circular Railway for this cause physical encroachments were being removed. While at the same time two separate sections of Bus Rapid Transit Service were being built in the city as the modern modes of mass transit system for people of the city. He also urged and agreed that the Coal trucks which transports the coal from KPT Coal yard creates havoc with the area and he shall raise this issue in the Sindh Assembly for its immediate remedial measures. He said that Sindh government would soon revive mechanisms to check fitness of both private and commercial motor vehicles so to certify their suitability for their plying on roads of the city to safeguard environment. He said that provincial government’s Transport Department would soon launch “City Bus Service” for providing speedy and spacious intra-city mass transportation facility for people of Karachi with operation of fleet of large buses having both seating and standing facility for passengers.