By Sohail Chaudhry
ISLAMABAD: Hundreds of trucks, entering and leaving the industrial area everyday, are causing air and noise pollution in Sector I-9 and inconveniencing the sector’s residents.
Sources said the number of noise, dust and smoke complaints from the area were steadily increasing with each passing day. Raiz Ali, working in an automobile painting shop in the sector for over 16 years, is an asthma patient. He attributes his problem to the heavy presence of smoke and dust in the industrial area. He said hundreds of trucks enter and leave the area and over 200 trucks use the Potohar Road daily where his shop is located. He lashed out at the Capital Development Authority for failing to ensure the area’s cleanliness, adding that the CDA sweepers rarely visited the industrial area. Akram Bakhtawar, a resident of Warsak Road in Sector I-9, also complained that scores of trucks that use the road daily create a lot of noise and smoke pollution. Muhammad Arshad, another I-9 resident, said that one could easily see layers of smoke in the air with the naked eye. He said throat, nasal and lung problems were very common in the area, adding that the government should not built apartments in localities adjacent to the industrial area.
Doctors warn that noise and air pollution is injurious to human health. Dr Haider Baqai of Rawalpindi General Hospital said the smoke emitted by trucks could cause respiratory infections, exacerbations of bronchial asthma, and high blood pressure. He warned the smoke also contained carcinogens that could cause cancer. He said the dust could cause nasal allergy, asthma and noise hearing problems. Senior Superintendent of Islamabad Traffic Police Zubair Hashmi said that trucks could only use link roads to enter or leave the city. He said he would ask his men to keep a vigilant eye on trucks causing noise or air pollution. Sajjad Shah of the CDA Environment Protection Cell said the civic body had warned factories against polluting environment through notices and would proceed against the smoke emitting or effluent discharging industrial units. He informed Daily Times that environment protection laws were also being amended.