The Ministry of Climate Change has asked Pak-Environment Protection Agency to close down the Environmental Monitoring System installed a few years back to monitor air quality and other related indicators across the country. The project began with the assistance of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), which set up a valuable countrywide network for air pollution monitoring, linking regional offices to the central laboratory in Islamabad.
With the installation of this project it had become easier for experts, policy makers, media, and even for civil society to remain updated about the level of air pollution and environmental degradation in the federal capital as well as all provincial headquarters.
This is considered to be an outcome of devolution that the project is being closed down due to non-availability of funds, as it is no more mentioned in the next fiscal year’s public sector development program.
After devolution, the federal segment of the project became limited to the capital area and the equipment installed in provincial headquarters was handed over to them.
Unfortunately there were reports that provincial laboratories were non-functional due to lack of proper heed and finances, and now the Ministry of Climate Change is closing down the Islamabad office too.
Senior officials at the Ministry informed APP that the project had been ordered to be shut down since June 30, but no decision had been taken about the employees at the project’s Islamabad office or the valuable instruments installed in the laboratories.
This project was initially identified, prepared and implemented by Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency (Pak-EPA), under the then Ministry of Environment.
It was formally approved by the Central Development Working Party (CDWP) in February 2003, and a sum of Rs1233 million had been allocated to it. The project was also endorsed by the Executive Committee of National Economic Council (ECNEC) in 2004.
Out of the total allocated amount, Rs973 million was to be funded by JICA, under the auspices of Grant Aid Component while remaining Rs260 million was to be funded by the Ministry of Environment, under Public Sector Development Program (PSDP).
Meanwhile, Pak-EPA is trying to revive the project for another six-month period, keeping in mind the project’s vitality and the poor response of the provinces in maintaining the equipment and performance.
Officials at the agency also confirmed that it was asked to shut the project down, from June 30 this year although the fate of the employees and the equipment was unclear.
Although this project had a certain life span, experts believe that closure of this project will not only leave employees jobless but will also prove to be a blow to the environment.
Being a subject on the Concurrent List, the Pakistan Environmental Protection Act, 1997 (Pepa) was enacted by parliament in Islamabad and asked for the formation of a federal environment protection agency in the Capital and agencies in each of the provinces to enforce the provisions of the law.
Later, after the Local Government Ordinances of 2001, the enforcement of environmental issues was further devolved to the district level.
However, the provincial environment protection agencies were not granted financial independence to function on their own.
