Environment watchdog fails to classify industrial units

ISALAMABAD: It has been revealed that the Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency (Pak-EPA) has not done classification of industrial units.

According to the audit report, according to Rule 4 of the National Environment Quality Standards (Self-Monitoring and Reporting by Industry) Rules 2001, the director general will classify any unit as A, B or C based on the pollution level of the industrial unit.

According to Rule 3, all industrial units will be responsible for submitting accurate and timely environmental monitoring reports to the federal agency. Rule 12 states that the federal agency shall compile, analyse and manage the data contained in environmental monitoring reports with the purpose of implementing national quality standards and developing an environmental database.

The Pak-EPA had been established for the protection, maintenance and improvement of the environment and prevention of pollution; however, during the audit of the financial year 2021-22 to 2022-23, it was revealed that the Pak-EPA did not classify industrial units into category A, B or C for liquid emissions and A or B for gaseous emissions, while on the other hand, industrial units were not submitting monthly, quarterly and annual environmental monitoring reports.

The audit termed the initiative of not classifying the industrial units as a serious lapse on the part of the management and said that as a result the compilation, analysis and development of the environmental database of the Islamabad Capital Territory was not carried out.

The audit issued a preliminary observation in this regard on 25 August 2023, to which the management replied that the industrial units are classified as per the Pakistan Environmental Protection Act 1997 which differentiates between liquid and gaseous emissions.

Industrial facilities within the Islamabad Capital Territory are located in three different zones out of five, some industries submit approved environmental compliance reports to the Pak-EPA. Notices will be issued to ensure that industries submit comprehensive environmental compliance reports, including management and data analysis.

The audit described the administration’s response as unsatisfactory, saying that details of all classified units operating under the territorial jurisdiction of the Pak-EPA were not provided. The administration admitted that all the industrial units were not submitting monitoring reports due to which the environmental database was not prepared.

The audit wrote three letters from the PAO to convene a meeting of the Departmental Accounts Committee, but the meeting was not called until the finalisation of the report. The audit recommended that the industrial units should be classified and a mechanism should be devised for reporting these units on a monthly, quarterly and yearly basis, in addition to the preparation of an environmental database.