Pakistan 'faces pollution crisis'

By Aamer Ahmed Khan
BBC News, Karachi

Cars are clogging up Pakistan's roads

Air pollution in Pakistan's major cities is among the highest in the world, economic planners have warned.

Dust and smoke particles are "generally twice the world average" and "five times" higher than the developed world, the Pakistan Economic Survey found.

The pollution crisis is compounded by severe water scarcity, the report says.

The annual survey reviews Pakistan's social and political economy and was published ahead of the budget on Monday, which is world environment day.

Traffic woes

The survey, released by the government's principal economic adviser, lists an increase in the demand for energy and an unprecedented growth in the number of vehicles in Pakistan as the key reasons behind growing levels of air pollution.

Air pollution levels in Pakistan's most populated cities are among the highest in the world, causing serious health issues in the process Pakistan Economic Survey

The number of vehicles on the roads has increased five times in the past 20 years.

The biggest increase in the automobile sector is seen in two-stroke vehicles and diesel-powered goods lorries which are among the most polluting in the world.

Besides, more people are using cheap, inefficient and highly polluting fuels to meet their energy demands, the survey finds.

"In the cities, widespread use of low quality fuel, combined with a dramatic expansion in the number of vehicles on the roads, has led to significant air pollution problems," it says.

The government has been encouraging the use of vehicles powered by the less polluting compressed natural gas (CNG).

At present, CNG vehicles in Pakistan are estimated at just under one million, making Pakistan's CNG fleet the third largest in the world after Argentina and Brazil.

But lengthy bureaucratic procedures have impeded the growth of CNG filling stations, slowing down the expansion of the CNG fleet.

Toxic water

Similar pollution issues surround the water sector.

Water is unsafe to drink in many areas

According to the survey, the annual per capita water availability dropped to 1,105 cubic metres - just above the 1,000 cubic metre threshold level.

With the present population growth rate and low rainfall, the scarcity threshold of 1,000 cubic metres is expected to be reached by the year 2010.

A large part of the water scarcity problem has to do with increasing levels of pollution in drinking and agricultural water supplies.

This year in particular, thousands of people across Pakistan have reported falling ill after drinking polluted water.

Ineffective enforcement of laws regulating industrial effluents has allowed a large number of factories to dump their toxic effluents in main water bodies.

The water crisis is likely to become more acute in the coming years unless more reservoirs are built, the survey warns.

But large reservoirs are a politically sensitive issue in Pakistan, with the northern provinces where major reservoirs can be built strongly objecting to such projects.

Pakistan's government has proposed meeting water shortages by building hundreds of local water purification plants.

The government plans to build more than 6,500 water purification plants across the country over the next few years.