Islamabad police fine drivers and impound vehicles in a new crackdown to combat toxic smog, largely caused by the city’s transport sector
ISLAMABAD: Truck driver Muhammad Afzal was stopped by police and fined as he entered the Pakistani capital this week due to thick diesel fumes from his exhaust.
“This is unfair,” he said after being ordered to pay 1,000 rupees, with his truck facing impoundment if the issue was not fixed.
Checkpoints established this month are part of an official crackdown to combat the city’s soaring smog levels, which worsen in winter due to atmospheric inversions trapping pollutants.
“We have already warned the owners of stern action, and we will stop their entry into the city if they don’t comply with the orders,” said Dr Zaigham Abbas of Pakistan’s Environmental Protection Agency.
For technician Waleed Ahmed, inspecting vehicles at the site, older vehicles that have passed their life cycle release smoke dangerous to human health.
While not yet at the extreme levels of Lahore or Karachi, Islamabad is steadily closing the gap.
It has already registered seven “very unhealthy” days for PM2.5 particulates in December, according to monitoring firm IQAir.
The city’s average PM2.5 reading for 2024 was 52.3 microgrammes per cubic meter, surpassing Lahore’s 46.2 and far exceeding the WHO’s safe level of five microgrammes.
Built as a model capital in the 1960s, Islamabad’s expansive layout discourages walking and its limited public transport makes cars essential.
“The capital region is choked overwhelmingly by its transport sector,” which produces 53% of its toxic PM2.5 particles, a recent report by the Pakistan Air Quality Initiative stated.
Announcing the crackdown, EPA chief Nazia Zaib Ali said over 300 fines were issued in the first week, with 80 vehicles impounded.
The city has also begun setting up emissions inspection stations, with compliant vehicles receiving a green windshield sticker.
Resident Iftikhar Sarwar, 51, said he now needs allergy medicine due to the pollution affecting his family.
Other residents worry the government’s measures will not be enough to counter the worsening winter smog.
“This is not the Islamabad I came to 20 years ago,” said anthropologist Sulaman Ijaz, concerned about providing clean air as a basic right for his daughter. – AFP
