Air Pollution — A Deadly Poison! | Faiziyat by Bahrullah Afridi

 

Air Pollution — A Deadly Poison

By: Bahrullah Afridi

To stay alive, a human being needs three things: food, water, and air—i.e., oxygen. If someone tries to mix poison into our food or water, we consider it an attempt to murder, and if such an act results in death, the person responsible is considered a murderer. A case of attempted murder or murder is filed against such a person. They are sent behind bars. The legal proceedings take years. Eventually, justice may be served—or sometimes, it’s bought with money. When justice is denied, the affected people take the law into their own hands, which leads to societal instability.

Now, the astonishing fact is that air is also a part of our sustenance, but when it is poisoned, society does not respond in the same way, even though several deaths each year are caused solely due to this issue. The toxic emissions from factories and industries pollute the air and become a cause of lung cancer, which ultimately results in fatalities.

On the other hand, the government sometimes launches programs under the name of the “Billion Tree Tsunami,” and at other times organizes speeches and photo sessions under the title “One Human, Two Trees.” Millions of rupees are spent on these programs in this impoverished country, but practical measures are next to none.

One such event was held last week in the Bara subdivision of Khyber District, where MNA Iqbal Afridi said that Prime Minister Imran Khan’s “Clean and Green” campaign is a vision to protect our environment, eliminate pollution, improve the ecosystem, and confront climate challenges—whose benefits will reach future generations. This is a policy that will beautify Pakistan through the wealth of trees and a healthy environment.

On the same occasion, Khyber Deputy Commissioner Mansoor Arshad said that the plantation campaign is a matter of life and death for us. If trees are not planted, Pakistan will turn into a desert. Humans and plants are interdependent; trees provide oxygen to humans.

Although Mansoor Arshad was newly appointed as DC Khyber, perhaps he didn’t feel the toxic air of Bara while attending the event, or else he would have also spoken out against the illegal factories that continuously poison our oxygen.

MNA Iqbal Afridi has also not taken any action in this regard so far, although he is a responsible public representative. If there are any loopholes in the law, it is his responsibility to legislate and play his role in combating air pollution.

What’s more disappointing is that, under the pretense of controlling pollution, local officials send police to poor shopkeepers’ stores in search of plastic bags, and crack down on poor street vendors under the pretense of curbing noise pollution (use of loudspeakers). They raid and arrest them—but take no action against those who, on a much larger scale, are endangering society. Their negligence is far worse than that of small traders and vendors.

When some social activists raise their voices on this issue, instead of the pollution mafia accepting the law, they try to divert the matter elsewhere. Their supporters loudly claim that these factories have provided employment to hundreds of youth. If the government shuts them down, these young men will become unemployed, turn to drugs or crime. Therefore, they argue, they have done a favor to society by providing jobs.

These people must understand that while industries play an important role in employment—and we do want our industries to grow—no one is demanding the shutdown of factories. But putting thousands of lives at risk just to provide jobs to a few hundred people is not wisdom. If just a small portion of the profits were spent on necessary safety equipment and filtration kits, this issue could be resolved. But perhaps such steps would slightly reduce their overflowing wealth.

In this context, the role of MPA Bara Shafiq Afridi also comes under question, because there are always clouds of smoke around his office as well—though he appears to be quite active in other matters.

Conclusion:

Brave and serious government and administrative officials must take strict action to prevent air pollution. All illegal factories across the country should be brought under the rule of law, and this issue must be resolved. Otherwise, there is a fear that the public may begin to see the poisoning of air (which is their sustenance) as attempted murder and try to take the law into their own hands.

Note: This article was originally written in Urdu and was first published in Daily Shahbaz, Peshawar, on 7th March 2021 under the series #Faiziyat.

Faiziyat, Bahrullah Afridi, Environment, Air Pollution, Climate Change, Pakistan, Clean and Green, Environmental Justice, Khyber, Bara