Owing to negligence on the part of the Capital Development Authority (CDA) Environment Directorate, citizens openly violate Environmental Protection Regulation (EPR) 2008, which is not only creating various environmental hazards but also badly affecting the beauty of the metropolis.
The CDA’s environment laws prohibit wall chalking, damaging green areas and landscapes, dumping debris or litter in open spaces, discharging toxic chemicals in drains, watercourses or public land, supply of contaminated drinking water and cleaning of vehicles on the road. However, the environment directorate has not implemented these laws as people are openly violating all these laws, an official said.
The official said that according to the EPR 2008, Environment Directorate has the authority to issue a ticket to violators on the spot and impose fine from Rs 100 to Rs 0.1 million. He said that the CDA’s Environment Directorate extracted EPR 2008 from the Environment Protection Act 1997 by making certain amendments into the act.
He said that environment laws also prohibited the use of those vehicles creating noise or emitting smoke higher than the prescribed level, factories discharging hazardous emissions, and effluent, organic or inorganic wastes causing air, land or waste pollution. Similarly, according to the law, action would be taken against those who played audio/video system on a volume higher than the prescribed level. People, especially in less developed sectors including I and G series and different parks, violate these laws owing to the negligence of CDA’s environment directorate. Parking of vehicles, dumping of debris at green areas and dumping of building material is on the rise in the city and the civic agency is not taking action against any violator, according to a survey conducted by the Pakistan Today.
Majority of the builders have placed construction material along roadside, which is not only creating traffic problems, but is also badly disturbing the pedestrian movement. A large number of buildings are under construction in the residential as well as in the commercial areas of the federal capital and the construction of every building required a long time therefore CDA needed to take action against the violators, said a senior official of CDA.
It is observed that cleaning of vehicles and release of water on road is also continuing in the city without any check. Especially at different big markets people clean vehicles on roadside, which cause accidents and slow movement of traffic.
