KARACHI: Environment and health experts have demanded the government ban the use of substandard fuel in Pakistan, install air quality monitors across Karachi, shut down pollution-causing industries,.
Prioritizing environmental protection
July 9, 2021
In our obsession with political news, we often forget the more pressing issues that confront the quality of life in Pakistan.
Climate change, air pollution, water scarcity, coal-based power plants, poor sanitation stare at us every day and rob the citizens of this country of their lives and quality of their lives. Yet, there is not much public discourse on this. We are going to refer to Kulsum Ahmed’s chapter on the quality of life in Shahid Javed Burki and others’ 2019 edited book ‘Pakistan at Seventy’ in this article.
Pakistan’s urban population increased from 22 percent in 1960 to 39 percent in 2016. Of course social scientists like Akbar Zaidi and Reza Ali estimate urbanization to be much more widespread than that. Even going by official figures, Pakistan is the most urbanized country in South Asia. Yet, the basic facilities for life like safe drinking water and sanitation are denied to the million in both urban a