Environmental Deterioration in Muzaffarabad
Such fantastic places have gone now. Scars of environmental degradation are engraved on the once-beautiful surface of the city of Muzaffarabad. Pollution, deforestation, and climate change are reducing the natural beauty of this city and harming the health of its citizens.
On the annual air quality guideline, by the World Health Organization (WHO), the PM2.5 must be below 5 µg/m³ on an average basis per year for health reductions. The present situation is, however, 29.9 µg/m³ in Muzaffarabad almost six times the permissible maximum. Experts worry such long exposure to this toxic air is causing respiratory diseases and heart ailments making clean air a prominent issue in the city.
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Health-Related and Environmental Effects
Dr. Imran Khan, a surgeon at Combined Military Hospital (CMH), said that diseases spreading in Muzaffarabad have recently taken up concern. In the last four to five years, he stated, environmental changes have caused diseases that were rarely found in the area to reach epidemic levels. Notable increases in diseases include most types of allergies, respiratory diseases like COPD and asthma, and also some waterborne diseases like dysentery and loose motion among children and the aged because of over-standard rainfall.
Eman Fatima, a local woman residing in Lower Plate, Muzaffarabad, also highlighted the deteriorating quality of the air in the city as she battles with asthmatic conditions. “I have had asthma since childhood, but it did not trouble me much earlier. I take all the right precautions, but I have fallen ill every other day for the last two years,” Fatima added.
According to research published in the International Journal of Kashmir Studies, Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) has recorded an above average increase in temperature that an annual 0.8C above the national average of 0.6 degrees Celsius only similar to that observed worldwide. Rapid warming like this would be attributed to deteriorating air quality in the region.it also adds to the speed at which the average temperature has been rising.
A study done in 2020 on the Revista de Chimie journal has an estimated 15 percent decline in forestry coverage during the period 2005 to 2014 due to anthropogenic activities and the rising effects of climate change. Another recent study revealed that the tree line has moved up by 233 meters during the last decade in the region as a result of increasing temperatures and erratic rainfall patterns.
Efforts to Combat Environmental Degradation
Thus far, says Malik Asad Mahmood, the Chief Conservator of South Kashmir in AJK, out of the total forest area of 1.4 million acres, about 0.36 million acres are productive forests, 0.75 million acres constitute potential forests that are being restored, and 0.465 million acres are reserved for commercial use. He also attributed what he called a very significant decline in deforestation during the past two years to the government’s commitment towards the conservation of forests as an ordinance imposed last year (details not shared) provided more stringent punishments associated with penalties for forest-related crimes.
The Environmental Protection Agency AJK (AJK-EPA) ushers in the Vehicle Emission Testing System with a view to sound vehicle emissions control and pollution control. It, in line with this, intends to assess the contribution of vehicular emissions to smog now rampant as an alarming environmental challenge in the region.
AJK Secretary for Environment, Amir Mahmood Mirza, emphasized that “mechanically unfit vehicles often are to blame for lethal emissions,” hence the need for such a program. AJK-EPA Director Shafiq Abbasi said since 2019, they have undertaken various activities directed toward saving natural resources, controlling pollution, and reforestation efforts.