Urbanisation and environmental degradation in Pakistan.

Environmental degradation in urban Pakistan is described and solutions offered for policy changes and changes in design of development projects. Government intervention should involve the development of institutional and legal structures for implementing effective pollution control laws and ordinances, the development of skills for evaluation of environmental consequences of development projects, and training in the aforementioned areas. Past development policies have ignored environmental consequences. The policy of incorporation of protectionists practices is feared as a strategy that would result in a decline in income and standard of living. The Report of the World Commission in 1987 revealed that environmental pollution would increase with rising urbanization. 52% of the urban population reside in the cities of Karachi, Lahore, Faisalabad, Rawalpindi/Islamabad, Hyderabad, Multan, and Gujranwala. Environmental degradation due to industrialization results in waste dumped into rivers and canals. In Karachi, industrial waste water is contaminated with toxic chemicals, which disrupts marine life, reduces quantities of fish for harvesting, and creates a health hazard for polluted fish that are eaten. The pollution in the Peshawar Vale and the Kabul River is threatening not only the water fishery industry but also irrigation of farmland. Transportation discharges due to leaded fuels are a major source of air pollution, with concomitant effects of lung cancer and mental retardation. Air emission standards established by the World Health Organization have not been met. Energy consumption is costly even without including the costs of pollution. Environmental degradation leads to poverty. Environmental problems must be included as externalities in market analyses. Command and control approaches need to be directed to industrial polluters. Public environmental education is needed. Policy should be directed to changing the residential energy consumptions patterns, and waste should be recycled. Policy should be directed to improving living conditions in poor areas. Environmental Impact Assessment would be helpful in identifying physical, biological, and social consequences of environmental pollution. Trained personnel able to prepare these assessments are lacking. The introduction of new technologies should meet environmental tests.