KARACHI, Oct 31: Legal inadequacies, attitude of transporters, environmental watchdogs and the high cost of vehicle maintenance are some major reasons behind chronic exposure of citizens to loud noise generated by traffic in the city.

This was observed by people from different walks of life while speaking at a seminar titled, ‘Dangerous impacts of noise pollution on people living in Karachi,’ organised by the medical and social welfare committee of the Arts Council of Pakistan here on Friday. Naib Nazim Nasreen Jalil was the chief guest.

They said society should increasingly focus on environmental issues, including traffic and industrial noise pollution, otherwise Karachians would continue to suffer from diseases.

Dr Tariq Rafi, in-charge of Jinnah Hospital’s ENT department, said that research and surveys had pinpointed many areas of the city that were worst hit by loud traffic noise, resulting in considerable mental and physical health problems to citizens. “In addition, labourers at workshops and factories or people residing near heavy mechanical industries also undergo severe health hazards, including going deaf at any stage of their life,” he said.

He suggested that employers should ensure not only meaningful maintenance of their machines and equipment but also provide noise mufflers and other protective gadgets to their employees.

A law practitioner, Shifaat Hussain, said that little had been done to protect people from losses due to pollution. He said hardly anybody who suffered any kind of loss due to noise pollution was compensated. “There is no law to provide relief or compensation to industrial employees for being victims of machines they worked with,” he observed.

He pointed out that there was no legal codification in the context of noise in most parts of the globe till the 1970s, but now there were legal provisions and strategies to counter or reduce noise pollution that could also be employed in Karachi and other big cities of Pakistan.

Chairman of the medical and social welfare committee Dr Qaiser Sajjad said that there had been glaring instances and research findings which said that people living with pressure horns and loud traffic noise suffered from hypertension, irritation, disturbed sleep, ear diseases and other problems.

“At many points, traffic noise crossed the limit of 85 decibels, which should be a major concern for the city managers, bureaucracy and transporters,” he remarked.

President of the Karachi Transport Ittehad Irshad Bukhari, defending transport operators and drivers, said that they did realise the gravity of the issue and the welfare of people was also dear to them, but the ground realities did not allow them to take steps in the right direction.

He said operators of public transport were the direct victims of violent protests and strikes, while the unresolved issue of compensatory payments to the owners of such vehicles left no room for new investment in the field. He said although police failed to enforce the relevant laws, he appealed to his association members to abide by the laws and do away with the use of pressure horns instantly.

Leader of the Rickshaw Drivers Union Chanzeb Awan and Naeem Qureshi of an NGO also spoke.

In her concluding remarks, Naib Nazim Nasreen Jalil said that unless laws were fully implemented, people would continue to suffer. She also discussed a few systematic lacunae, saying that unfortunately, many of the relevant powers had not been delegated to the city government so far.