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'Faisalabad most pulluted city'

RECORDER REPORT

FAISALABAD: The Environmental Pollution Ambient Air Quality Measuring Programme has revealed that Faisalabad city is the most polluted among Pakistani cities.

The computerised mobile laboratory of the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) is on a five-day visit to Faisalabad. It will collect air samples to assess the quality of air.

"We have selected five spots of this City for the collection of samples," said Mohammad Farooq, Research officer.

"Our Lab will camp at each site for 24 hours to collect air samples and data of the gaseous concentration with specified intervals.

"The primary results assessed from Kutchery Bazar have given an alarming situation," he said adding "on the basis of these results, we can safely say that Faisalabad is the most polluted city of Pakistan."

The climate of this particular locality contain heavy concentration of carbon dioxide, carbon mono-oxide and other hazardous gases like ozone. He further said that a comprehensive report will be compiled very soon to give a true picture of the environmental pollution in Faisalabad.

Meanwhile an environmental squad comprising the EPD officials, traffic police and traffic magistrate has launched a campaign against noisy and smoke-emitting rickshaws.

About 24-30 rickshaws are being impounded daily in six sectors of the city, while drivers and Faisalabad Rickshaw Union is also fully cooperating with the environmental squad.

A spokesman of the EPD said that impounded vehicles will not be released unless provision of a clearance from the department.