Karachi’s air pollution crisis looms as watchdogs appear rudderless — Part 1
By Mukhtar Alam
KARACHI: The worsening air quality of Sindh’s capital
Karachi continues to draw concern from citizens and experts alike, while
government watchdogs appear largely rudderless — aware of the environmental
decline yet short on the evidence, monitoring systems, and coordinated policies
needed to curb it.
Health and environment experts interviewed by this scribe converged on the
need to address Karachi’s rising air pollution through scientific approaches,
developing evidence-based policies and emergency action plans to steer the
metropolis toward sustainable development and environmental resilience — a
healthier, more prosperous city for its residents.
There is also a prevailing public perception that Karachi currently lacks
foolproof and effective mechanisms to counter environmental hazards due to
prolonged governmental neglect. The city, citizens maintain, suffers from an
absence of proper urban planning and oversight, while unregulated expansion and
short-sighted development have aggravated the situation to a near-crisis point.
A source familiar with the workings of the Sindh Environment and Climate
Change Department confided that persistent shortages of funds, technical
capacity, and trained personnel — along with gaps in data, vision, and planning
— continue to hinder meaningful progress. The officials concerned, the source
added, are keen to build an independent, reliable air-quality monitoring
network operating round the clock in Karachi and other major cities. “However,
such an initiative demands substantial funding, political will, and
institutional motivation — without which, air pollution and broader
environmental degradation may continue unchecked.”
Doctors
warn of rising health burden
Prof Dr Atif Hafeez Siddiqui
Prof Dr Atif Hafeez Siddiqui, an ENT specialist, surgeon, and President of
the Pakistan Islamic Medical Association (PIMA), has no doubt about the health
toll of Karachi’s polluted air. In his practice, he routinely observes a rise
in upper respiratory tract infections and allergic conditions linked to poor
air quality. “Air pollution is 100 percent a major factor in exaggerated
allergic responses and subsequent infections,” he says, pointing to suspended
dust from broken and under-construction roads, compounded by the widespread
loss of trees, as key contributors.
The most common conditions he encounters are allergic rhinitis, pharyngitis,
bronchitis, and recurrent respiratory infections. “During the winter months, we
see a significant increase in such cases,” he explains. Unlike Lahore, Karachi
does not suffer prolonged smog episodes, but colder weather still amplifies the
city’s pollution-related health burden. Children and individuals with atopic
tendencies — those already predisposed to allergies — are especially
vulnerable.
“Though all age groups are affected, children and sensitive patients bear
the brunt in winters,” he notes. With few diagnostic tools available, patient
history remains the main way physicians suspect a link between illness and poor
air quality.
Prof Siddiqui is candid about the wider challenge: “Unfortunately, as with
other diseases, awareness about health problems is very low in our country.
Health and prevention are usually a last priority.”
He emphasises the need for systematic public education, from one-on-one
counselling at clinics to broader outreach through awareness programmes,
community talks, media campaigns, and digital platforms.
For him, doctors must extend their role beyond treatment. “Medical professionals
can and should play a strong role in raising awareness and influencing policy
for cleaner air,” he asserts. Karachi’s air-quality crisis, he concludes, is
nothing short of a public-health emergency: “Addressing this is 100 percent
essential.”
This is Part 1 of our series on Karachi’s worsening air pollution crisis, originally published in the weekly Social Track, Karachi.
Next (publishing tomorrow): Part 2 — Pulmonologists link Karachi’s air to rising respiratory
disease and policy neglect.
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