• April 22, 2019
• Environmental Journalism
• Web Desk

Karachi: National Forum for Environment and Health (NFEH) has called upon the federal and provincial governments to adopt a national charter to safeguard the environment before it gets too late and the issue of environmental degradation becomes irreversible.

This was stated by the NFEH President Naeem Qureshi on account of Earth Day, which will be celebrated today (April 22). Qureshi regretted that the issue of environmental degradation in Pakistan had been exacerbating with each passing day.

The NFEH president appreciated the fact that the conservation of environment and combating the issue of climate change was one of the top items on the current federal government’s agenda. But at the same time, Qureshi said, the coordination required between the Centre and provincial governments to work with unanimity for the cause of environmental protection has almost been missing.

He said that the subject of Environment and Climate Change had been devolved completely to the provinces following the 18th Amendment so it is now the responsibility of the provincial governments to take measures to ensure environmental protection.

He lamented the situation that provincial governments were not being given the financial and technical support by the Centre that they deserved to enhance their capacity to combat environmental degradation and climate change.

“Take for instance the case of Sindh, where the environmental watchdog lacks the capacity and resources to combat the issues of air, noise, and industrial pollution,” said the NFEH president.

Qureshi said that the Sindh government had been constantly complaining that it was facing serious fiscal shortfall due to the lack of funds given to it by the Centre. “When the Sindh government has been short of funds to meet its necessary recurring expenditures while its developmental expenses are also being curtailed, nobody could expect from it to extend any special support to the Sindh Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) to enhance its capacity and improve its working,” he said.

While SEPA and other agencies had been miserably failing to do their job as required under the Sindh Environmental Protection Act 2014, the issues of constant discharge of industrial effluents had been continuing without any check causing marine pollution and degradation of Pakistan’s coastline.

Qureshi said that Karachi’s seashore had been turned into a massive waste dumping site as the relevant civic and government authorities, including the SEPA, had been doing nothing on this alarming phenomenon.

“Karachi is supposed to be the engine of economic, business, and industrial growth in Pakistan but the capacity of the city to host such activities will be massively hampered if its residents continue to face issues of pollution that are also worsening each passing day,” he said.
The relevant authorities should wake up to this situation and take due corrective measures before it is too late, he concluded.

The Express Tribune