RECENTLY, I watched the documentary A Journey Through Pakistan at the embassy in Washington D.C. during an open house event. The film ended at the new deep-sea port in Gwadar, which drew me to find out more about the project. During my research, I found alarming levels of pollution along the coastline, on the ocean bed and in marine life that may cost thousands of fishing jobs and millions of dollars annually from restrictions on export of contaminated fish and prawns.

The Pakistani coastline is facing severe pollution from industrial, port, municipal and transportation activities, with large amounts of untreated industrial waste and sewage draining into the sea. Other sources of pollution include ships and fishing trawlers, a situation that can only worsen when the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor is completed and the deep-sea port fully operational.

Environmental pollution is not unique to Pakistan; all developing countries confront the dilemma of wanting to preserve natural resources and the need to cater for burgeoning populations. In Pakistan, however, environmental issues are managed through ad hoc fixes resulting in problems getting exacerbated to catastrophic dimensions.

Solutions to environmental pollution in Pakistan must be implemented without delay.

I visited several beaches during my last trip to Karachi; their deterioration was beyond imagination. Sea View and Hawkes Bay looked like municipal waste sites with garbage, especially shopping bags, littered everywhere. The stench and black sand was evidence of untreated sewage, the source of which was only few kilometres away — a huge municipal nullah discharging into the sea without any treatment; even raw human waste was visible in the effluent.

The situation inland is equally alarming; a survey of Degh Nullah of Lahore and tributaries in Kasur showed extremely high levels of pesticides and heavy metals discharged by factories. In most of the water samples, the levels of lead and mercury were between 200 and 20,000 times higher than acceptable levels. Eighty-six per cent of the samples were highly toxic.

Mercury is extremely toxic to humans, especially infants; it affects many organs and causes sensory impairment (vision/hearing/speech), disturbs sensation and coordination. Long-term or high levels of mercury exposure can result in brain damage, even death. For pregnant women, exposure may result in serious birth defects. Mercury is discharged into the environment by non-iron metal, cement, caustic soda, pig iron and steel industries operating along Degh Nullah.

Lead is of particular interest due to its adverse impact on children’s cognitive skills. Exposure to it causes loss of attentiveness, depression, nausea, abdominal pain, loss of coordination, numbness and tingling in the extremities, fatigue, insomnia, headaches, stupor, slurred speech, and anaemia. Exposure to even low levels of lead can be harmful.

Air pollution is the most visible type of pollution, especially smoke from automotive tailpipes. However, it may not be the most toxic. Open burning is currently the most prevalent method of getting rid of solid waste which results in toxic pollutants eventually either getting dispersed into the air or contributing to soil and groundwater pollution. Open burning is considered low-temperate burning that forms yet more toxic chemicals like dioxin (one of the most toxic by-products of the open burning of plastic). Dioxin causes a form of disfiguring acne called chloracne; Viktor Yushchenko, the former president of Ukraine, is a well-known sufferer. Open burning also produces cancer-causing contaminants like polychlorinated biphenyls, benzo(a)pyrene and others.

Let’s examine some of the pressing environmental issues of Pakistan and possible solutions/remedies. Plastic, especially shopping bags, is by far the most urgent issue. Some of the solutions are: banning plastic bags altogether, which is not possible; however, non-degradable plastic bags can be replaced with biodegradable ones. Another option is to impose a shopping bag deposit like a glass bottle deposit; shoppers pay a sum at the time of purchase that is refunded upon its return. A cheaper and more practical solution is that the government implements and/or encourages purchase of the discarded plastic bags and recycles or burns them in high temperature incinerators along with other solid wastes. This will create jobs and the process can be used to generate energy. Further, removing plastic bags from the environment will prevent clogged sewers, waterways and in the process help conserve wildlife.

Legislating on industrial waste can be made easier by making industries responsible for their waste, imposing hefty fines on the polluters, and making them responsible for the clean-up. While it is too early for implementation of pollution limits for an industrial area where they can trade their allowable pollution without impacting the set ceiling, there is no harm in thinking about it.

Cost-effective and job-creating solid municipal waste management means maximum recycling, placing non-recyclables in properly-built/lined landfills on hydro-geologically stable areas with leachate collection/monitoring to prevent groundwater contamination. Once the landfill is partly or completely filled, the generated gas from microbial activity may be used for energy generation.

For liquid municipal waste, properly designed treatment plants are needed with capacity for the expected population growth. Wastewater plants will work to their intended maximum once plastic bags are removed. Think of the treatment standard of processing wastewater in Singapore which exceeds the WHO drinking water standard.

Another source of contamination of waterways is runoff from agricultural farms. Use of less persistent/toxic chemicals according to instructions is needed. Education of farmers about the impact of agrochemical use on human and animal health and the environment — as well as the development of resistance among insects and weeds — when not used properly, will be helpful.

Before and even after the implementation of these solutions, proper environmental monitoring/intervention strategies should be in place with quarterly or at least biannual assessment of samples collected from the areas of concern. Establishment of standard labs for chemical/toxicity analysis is essential.

Pakistan needs serious intervention to combat further environmental degradation with proper remediation/restoration for the sake of the coming generations. Pakistanis don’t have any other option; non-action will continue to transform the country into a wasteland with consequences that were not seen even a decade ago. The writer is an environmental toxicologist and chief scientific officer at a research organisation in Washington, DC.

Published in Dawn, August 24th, 2015

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