Faisalabad is one of the major and industrial cities generating excessive noise pollution, causing serious health hazards for the people.

The most affected areas include Chowk Clock Tower, Imran Maket area, Chak Jhumra, Mumtaz Colony, main cloth markets, Liaquatabad and various other localities.

According to the experts, smoke-emitting and noise-generating vehicles are a source of pollution. They said that in spite of the tall claims made by the administration about controlling environmental pollution, there is no plan to curb the menace and save the people from health problems, which have totally failed to control the pollution in the city.

A survey revealed that for every litre of petroleum consumed by an automobile, 2.2 grams of carbon dioxide is released into the air, consequently, spreading different kinds of diseases. Adding to the people's woes are noise making vehicles, which are a perpetual source of concern for the residents. In most areas, the noise level is much higher than the average tolerable level, giving rise to serious health problems.

Dr Farooq Ahmed Rana, who is a senior doctor, observed that asthma has been assuming alarming proportions among patients and is most certainly attributed to air pollution.

A great amount of carbon dioxide, mixed with a certain amount of carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons are known to cause chest infections and allied diseases. It is surprising to note that the multinational petroleum marketing companies operating in Pakistan have adopted dual standards for marketing their products.

The traffic police of Faisalabad collect Bhatta from the transport mafia and fake oil shopkeepers, who sell the substandard oil in the city markets while the transporters always violate the traffic rules.

They get the fake fitness certificates from the concerned department.

At the same time, officials of the vehicle fitness department could not be absolved of the responsibility of poisoning the air by allowing the operation of misfit vehicles by issuing fitness certificates to vehicle operators after accepting monetary gratification.

These oil-marketing companies, while operating in Western countries, maintain minimum level of lead in petroleum products in order to abide by the strict environmental laws enforced in those countries.

However, another doctor observed that they were least bothered about the general health of their fellow human beings in Pakistan and freely marketed heavily lead loaded petroleum products.

Although, some of the oil-marketing companies claim lead-free petroleum products, trees along some roads and other parts of the city, with their blackened leaves, clearly refute their false claims.

Dr Farooq said the level of noise in these areas and its surrounding areas is as high as 190 decibels, much higher than the tolerable level of 60 to 70 db.

Dr Farooq said that such high levels of noise have extremely negative effects on human health, causing loss of hearing, increased rate of heartbeat and blood pressure and stomach-related illness. He said the time had come to pay serious attention to the problem of environmental degradation and include it in the top agenda of national issues.

The residents and other social circles of the district have demanded of the government and authorities concerned to look into the matter and mitigate their woes.

First published in www.sadatv.com by Azam Gondal