ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS IN PAKISTAN

Presented By:
SHAKIL AHMED

1
2 OUTLINE

• Introduction
1.

• Why concerns of environment in Pakistan?

2.

3.
• Current issues/Concerns of environment in Pakistan

• Conclusion
4.
3 1. Introduction

 Pakistan is basically an agricultural country.

 Its economy depend on agro-based industries.

 Poor management & unsustainable use of natural resources are

leading country to environmental concerns.
 2. Why concerns of environment in Pakistan?
4

Environmental
concerns

Socio-
Demographic
economic

Industrial Population
Agriculture
development growth
5 3. Current issues/Concerns of environment in Pakistan

1. Limited natural fresh water resources

2. Quality & scarcity of potable water
3. Water pollution from raw sewage & Industrial wastes
4. Solid waste generation in Pakistan
5. Air pollution
6. Deforestation
7. Soil erosion
8. Water logging & salinity
9. Desertification
6 3.1 Limited Natural Fresh Water Resources
Among 2.5 % of fresh
water
 71% Earth surface is covered by ice & snow.

 Only 0.3% of the fresh water or 0.007% earth

water can be readily accessed.

 Like other developing countries of world,

Pakistan is also facing critical water shortage.
7 Water availability (m3/C/year)

Water availability (m3/C/year)

Pakistan India China
6000

5000

4000

3000

2000

1000

0
1951 1990 2025
8 Water availability (m3/C/year)

 Another study shows that water availability in Pakistan is going to

alarming situation.

Water availability (m3/C/year )

1400

1200

1000

800

600

400
Pakistan
200

0
1996-97 2006 2025
9 3.2 Quality & Scarcity of potable water

 Water quality of most of rivers, lakes, ground aquifers of the country not
to be safe for human consumption.
 Study conducted by PCRWR about water quality of 21 cities 6 rivers and
10 reservoirs of the country in 2002-2006.
 Conclusion of study reveals that an average of 84-89% of water sources
throughout the country have water quality below the recommended for
human consumption.
 Source pH Turbidity TDS (mg/l) Coliform (MPN/100ml) E.coli (MPN/100ml)
(NTU)
/WHO Guidelines 6.5-8.5 <5 <1000 Must not be detectable in any 100 Must not be detectable in
10 ml sample any 100ml sample
Rawal dam 7.9 24 208 >16 >16
Sutlej River 7.5 694 580 >16 >16
Mangla dam 8.2 4 93 >16 >16
Ravi River 7.5 670 127 >16 >16
Chenab River 7.6 580 115 >16 >16
Kabul River 6.1 774 120 >16 >16
Swat River 7.3 36 46 >16 >16
Indus River 7.6 76 84 >16 >16
Kanpur dam 8.1 2 222 >16 >16
Tarbela dam 7.9 52 94 >16 >16
Hanna lake 7.5 11 385 >16 >16
Manchar lake 7.6 134 5318 >16 5
Hub dam 7.2 5 743 >16 >16
Jehlum River 7.8 419 132 >16 >16
Hamal lake 7.3 12 4652 >16 >16
Chashma lake 7.8 183 132 >16 >16
11 3.3 Water pollution from raw sewage & industrial
effluents
 It has been estimated that around 2000MGD of sewage is being
discharged to surface water bodies in Pakistan.
 Latest estimates reveal that total quantity of wastewater produced in
Pakistan is 2637MGD, including 1846.6MGD from municipal and
790MGD from industrial.
 The total wastewater discharge to major rivers is 1075MGD which
includes 868MGD from municipal and 207MGD of industrial effluent.
 It has been estimated only 1% of industrial wastewater in Pakistan is
treated before discharge.
 12 Wastewater discharge of major cities
City Urban Total wastewater % of total Receiving water body
population Produced (MGD)
(lacs) 1998
Karachi 9,339,023 365 26.3 Arabian sea
Lahore 5,143,495 173 12.5 Ravi river, irrigation canals
Faisalabad 2,008,861 78 5.6 River Ravi, River Chenab
Gujranwala 1,132,509 43 3.1 SCRAP drains, vegetable farms
Rawalpindi 1,409,768 24 1.8 River soan, vegetable farms
Sheikhupura 870,110 9 0.7 SCRAP drains
Multan 1,197,384 40 2.9 River Chenab, irrigation canals
Sialkot 713,552 11.46 0.8 River Ravi, irrigation canals
Hyderabad 1,166,894 31 2.2 River Indus, SCRAP drains, irrigation canals

Peshawar 982,816 31.37 2.3 Kabul River

Other 19,475,588 583.48 41.8 -
Total 43,440,000 1389.31 100
13 3.4 Solid waste generation in Pakistan

 According to various studies conducted on waste management in the

country about 54,888 tons of solid waste is generated daily in urban
areas of Pakistan.
 On basis of annual growth rate of 2.6% in population an estimated
projection of solid waste is 71,018 tons/d by the end of year 2015.
 About 60 % is collected by municipal authorities, and 30-50% is not
collected in most of the cities.
 Average waste generation in country vary from 0.283kg/C/d to
0.613kg/C/d.
City Population Population Solid waste Solid waste Solid waste
(millions) 1998 (millions) 2004 generation generated generated
rate(kg/c/d) (tons/d) (Tons/year)

Karachi 9.269 10.818 0.613 6632 2,420,680

Faisalabad 1.979 2.307 0.319 902 329,230
Hyderabad 1.151 1.343 0.563 756 275,940
Gujranwala 1.124 1.312 0.469 615 224,475
Lahore 5.143 6.4 0.515 5000 1,825,000
Peshawar 0.988 1.153 0.489 564 205,860
Quetta 0.560 0.654 0.378 247 90,155
Banu 0.046 0.054 0.439 24 8,760
Sibi 0.082 0.095 0.283 27 9,855
other urban areas 27.261 31.818 0.453 14,414 5,261,110
Total of urban areas 42.458 49.554 4.078 24,181 8,826,065
Rural areas 88.21 102.853 0.283 29,108 10,624,420
Sub total 130.121 152.407 4.361 53,289 19,450,485
3% hazardous 1599 583,635
Grand total 54,888 20,034,120
 3.5 Air pollution in Pakistan
15

 Air pollution is rapidly growing environmental concern in Pakistan

 Some major causes of ambient air quality deterioration in the
country are
 Highly inefficient use of energy
 Accelerated growth in vehicle population and vehicle kilometers
travelled
 Increasing industrial activity without air emission control
 Open burning of solid waste
 Use of ozone depleting substances (ODSs)
 Average air pollutants in Karachi
16
SO2 concentration 600
PM concentration
150
500
100 400
300
50 200
100
0 0
Residential Areas (june Traffic intersection (june Residential areas (june Traffic intersection (june
2005) 2005) 2005) 2005)
SO2 (ug/m3) WHO guidelines PM (ug/m3) WHO guidelines

NO2 concentration PM10 concentration

200 350
300
150
250
100 200
150
50 100
50
0
0
Residential areas (june Traffic intersection (june
Residential Areas (june Trrafic intersection (june
2005) 2005)
2005) 2005)

NO2 (ug/m3) WHO guidelines PM10 (ug/m3) WHO guidelines

17 Ambient air quality of Islamabad & major cities
Punjab.

City SO2 (ppb) NOx (ppm) CO (ppm) TSP (ug/m3)

Islamabad 28.5 148.5 1.55 520

Lahore 44.6 156.6 2.82 709

Rawalpindi 30.7 74.7 1.83 895

WHO Guidelines 36-52 - 9.0 150-230

18 3.6 Deforestation
 According to a study that forest, scrub and trees on farmland covers 4.2 million
hectares or 4.8% of the country.
 The deforestation rate has been estimated 0.2-0.5% per annum, the worlds
second highest rate of deforestation.
 Two recent studies revealed that Pakistan’s woody biomass is declining at a
rate of 4-6% per year.
 The principal cause of deforestation is the consumption of fuel wood and
timber.
 The majority (40%) of the forests are either conifers or scrubs.
 Almost 7000-9000 hectares deforested annually, this rate is severe in north part
of country where per capita consumption is 190 times greater due to severe
winter.
 It is estimated Pakistan’s woody biomass will be consumed with in next 10-15
years
19 3.7 Soil erosion

 In Pakistan around 15.9 million hectares of land (18% of total is affected by

soil erosion).
 Out of this 11,172,000 hectares (11.1 million hectares) affected by water
erosion, while 4,760,000 hectares (4.76 million hectares) affected by wind
erosion.
 Soil loss by water erosion is estimated to be 150-165 tones/ha/year in the
Indus catchment between Tarbela reservoir and upstream.
 Wind erosion is reducing productivity of land by 1.5 - 7.5% per year.
 It is quite common in the sandy desert of Thal, Cholistan, Tharparkar and
sandy areas along Makran coast.
 3.8 Water logging and salinity
20

 According to soil survey of Pakistan, the total water logged summer rain
area in the country is 4.11 million hectares. And water logged area doubled
during post monsoon.
 High water table has serious adverse effects on agriculture. Over 25 % of
the Indus basin the water table has risen to 2m of soil surface, in result
40000 hectares of land being lost.
 Over 5.7 million hectares land is salt affected and 2.4 million hectares is
highly saline according to soil survey of Pakistan.
 The soil of 13.6 million hectares was surveyed 23% of this in Sindh and
13% in the Punjab.
 3.9 Desertification
21
 Desertification is a process that turns productive land into non-
productive desert. It mainly occurs in semi arid areas (mean rainfall
less than 60mm).

 According to an estimate more than 60% of the natural grazing area

have production level lower than one third of country has been
classified as under risk of desertification (45mha).

 Deforestation, over cultivation, excessive cutting of fuel wood and

incorrect irrigation practices all have a share in this problem.
 Conclusion
22

 A number of serious environmental problems are inherent in the country,

which are of great ecological concern in terms of its sustainable economic
future.
 Only 1% of the industrial wastewater is treated before discharge
 There are serious sewage & effluent problems and lack of sanitation
affecting the natural resources and posing health risks.
 Quality of drinking water is not fit for human consumption.
 Water scarcity is also going to alarming condition.
 The use of raw materials is also inefficient and many reusable resources are
discarded as waste.
 Conclusion
23

 The major constraint to overcoming these problems, in-fact perhaps

the main contributor to their intensity is the population growth,
which is very high in contrast to the natural limited resources that
are available to the people.
24 References
 -http://www.cssforum.com.pk/css-compulsory-subjects/essay/essays/47900-environmental-issues-
pakistan.html
 Land and Environmental Degradation and its Amelioration for Sustainable Agriculture in Pakistan
Quarterly SCIENCE VISION Vol.9 No.1-2 (Jul - Dec, 2003) & 3-4 (Jan - Jun, 2004)
 Air Pollution: Key Environmental Issues in Pakistan by Mahmood A. Khwaja and Shaheen Rafi
Khan
 Environmental Challenges and Responses of Pakistan
 Ministry of Environment, Local Government and Rural Development
 http://www.environment.gov.pk/ 10/2001
 Azizullah , Peter Richter , Donat Peter Häder, “Ecotoxicological Evaluation of Wastewater Samples
from Gadoon Amazai Industrial Estate (GAIE), Swabi, Pakistan”.
 Shahid Amjad. “ Strategy for industrial waste water and pollution control”. Professor: College of
Computer Science and Information Systems Institute of Business Management, Karachi
 Wastewater Production, Treatment and Use in Pakistan
 Ghulam Murtaza1 and Munir H. Zia ,Associate Professor/Director Farms
 Institute of Soil and Environmental Sciences, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad