Environmental pollution: Who cares?

Toxic fumes emitted by vehicles and industrial facilities in urban areas continue to trouble millions in urban centres. The worst affected by the air pollution are those whose houses have frontages or in proximity to roads taking heavy traffic. The amount of contaminated air they breathe in a day is so much that if no steps are taken to snuff out pollution which is already beyond the tolerance limit, their lives will be in danger.

"I know that this carbon, dust and smoke is bad for my health. It could cause asthma, lung cancer and complications in the brain, heart and blood circulation. But there is nothing that I can do about it. There is no one in authority who is concerned about this." Thus laments one of our readers in his letter published in The Island yesterday while another insists that the import of motor vehicles be restricted as a means of helping overcome the problem of traffic congestion and air pollution.

Urban areas in Sri Lanka are characterised by roads chock-a-block with vehicles mostly unroadworthy ones moving at a snail's pace and the ambient veil of smoke.

Three air quality monitoring stations imported at a cost of Rs. 7. 2 m a few years ago are said to be gathering rust. Why the authorities have not put these facilities capable of measuring the level of air pollutants to the intended use is difficult to comprehend.

After all, going by the proportions atmospheric contamination has reached we are afraid that there is no need for these detectors at all to establish levels of carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and the like. For as our readers have pointed out one can clearly see the smoke blacken their nostrils and clothes. The extent to which our atmosphere has been polluted is also evident from the high incidence of asthma among children. The prevalence of this painful disease has been attributed mainly to the polluted air that they are exposed to.

Repeatedly those concerned have adverted in the press to this problem and suggested by way of a solution introduction of unleaded fuel at least to reduce the amount of lead particles that cause most of the respiratory diseases. The Central Environment Agency (CEA) once announced a programme to introduce lead free fuel to Sri Lanka, but as in the case of all other environment-related projects, this too has been put on hold indefinitely. The first proposal to this effect was made as far back as 1979.

There is much talk about Sri Lanka joining that grandiose "Clean Air by the Year 2000" programme, but how can this be achieved without making a concerted effort by the policymakers to introduce at least unleaded fuel as the first step toward that goal let alone other measures such as restrictions on import of vehicles or widening of roads to obviate the problem.

Conurbation is the order of the day with townships merging into larger urban areas. This rampant urbanisation is without proper planning to meet the growing demand for road access, drainage and waste disposal, which aggravates the multifarious problem of pollution. With the advent of new industries that are essential for the country's economic development causing proliferation of factories all over, many a residential area of yore has now been converted into veritable industrial zones. Migration of workers in their numbers into these areas has led in addition to mushrooming sub-standard dwellings, the problem of ground water contamination. These areas such as Katunayake or even Ratmalana are dotted with tens of thousands of cesspits mixing human waste with ground water.

Have the environmental authorities paid adequate attention to this seething problem underground in approving factories in populous areas?

It is time those responsible for protecting the environment thrashed out a plan to curb this disastrous trend and make a genuine effort to prevent Sri Lanka from becoming a sick nation.