It is not just the issue of security that is influencing the Afghan society. There are many other issues as well that influence Afghan society and Afghan people in some way or the other. Few of them are so important that immediate and dedicated efforts are required to curb them; otherwise, they may keep on affecting the society and the habitants in the worst possible manner. Among them the growing pollution in the major cities of the country is a dominant one.
Among these concerns Afghanistan National Standards Authority (ANSA) has put forward a set of standards aimed at lessening pollution and has requested government agencies to implement those standards. Speaking at a conference in Kabul on Sunday, February 04, 2013, Head of ANSA Popalzai Popal called on government agencies to ensure the implementation of the standards for the protection of environment.
With the growing population and congestion in the urban areas of the country, the problem of environmental pollution is getting more serious. The air surrounding us, from which everyone gets his/her share of oxygen is getting more polluted with each passing day. Especially Kabul city has been suffering because of this menace to a worrying extent. The air in Kabul has been announced as highly dangerous for people both by national and international authorities. National Environmental Protection Agency (NEPA) considers Kabul's air vulnerable and fears that it can cause eyes, lungs and skin diseases, including cancer. There are many other factors of pollution as well which require special attention and can only be avoided by following certain standards that are set by the standard authorities.
“ANSA has drafted 240 standards for various sectors through 9 technical committees and has presented them to the Standard High Council. The Council has approved 183 of the standards applicable to the food and agricultural products sector, medical and cosmetics products, construction materials, textile and leather materials and electrical and demining equipment. ANSA requires cooperation from the private sector and the government agencies in order to handle the pollution issue successfully,” the agency head said in the conference.
Officials of ANSA, in the conference, suggested government agencies to consider construction and protection of green areas, while working on other infrastructure projects, such as road construction and town building. For further protection of the environment from pollution caused by fuel, ANSA has set up 3 laboratories in three northern ports. However people have serious concerns regarding the increase in pollution and fear that it may go out of control if not managed properly. Moreover, only few people believe that these theoretical solutions will ever become practical.
Because of the increasing air pollution within Kabul city NEPA has even suggested that the use of masks should be made frequent in order to be secure from the contamination mostly exhausted by vehicles. Kabul city is dominantly marked with the flow of a congested traffic mostly including various types of cars. Most of these cars are not registered and do not have to pass any maintenance test or quality checkup before they get within the traffic. Further, the fuel used by these cars is not of high quality. Most of the times, the fuel doesn't come from the petrol stations rather they are provided by the suppliers on the road sides and small shops where the petrol and diesel are kept in water buckets and tanks. They do not go through any process of purification and contain large number of harmful particle including lead.
Moreover, as there is no proper sewerage system and waste disposal system the situation is deteriorated further. Even the latrine system in the country is not up to the mark and really requires great attention in order to be environmentally safe. The issue of clean drinking water is another great concern, bothering the people to a large extent. Burning of low quality fuel in the large quantity by every sort of vehicle, and burning of wood and coal for household and other purposes add dangerous contamination in our environment continuously. All these add to the problems which have never been tackled properly both because of lack of awareness and inconsideration.
Apart from that, there is a very legible arrangement for parks and greenery in the city. Most of the green areas of the city have not been cared for and they are becoming a part of residential and commercial buildings with the sacrifice of greenery.
Along with air pollution the land and water pollution in Afghanistan, especially in urban areas are getting serious as well. The drainage system in the urban areas is still not developed properly or it is left with serious deficiencies. The drains that carry the water containing waste material from household and other uses are not covered. Even in the capital Kabul, the drains are not covered. Rather they have become dustbins for the people. The people throw the wrappers, plastic bags, papers and other waste materials in the drains without any hesitation or humiliation.
Most of the times the drains are blocked by the excessive dirt; and the dirty water flows out of the drains on the roads, generating disgusting smell and inviting different types of insects. The same water then dries and the dirt along with the dust particles fly in the air because of the passing vehicles and the same air is inhaled by the passersby. Further, the ponds of dirty water are refuge for mosquitoes and flies and other insects. These insects are really dangerous for spreading serious epidemics. And such issues are never dealt seriously even in the most developed of the cities.
The issue of environmental pollution should be dealt appropriately both by people and government of Afghanistan before it is too late. Any program regarding environmental protection should be two-fold. First, the government must introduce laws and the mechanism to enforce them. Since, the introduction of nation's first environmental law in 2005, no remarkable development has been made in chalking out the mechanism to enforce them. Low-grade fuel should be banned all together. And extensive growth of trees should be made possible immediately.
Second, concerned authorities should facilitate thorough awareness programs, which should penetrate among the residents of the country, so that they should be fully aware of the actions they carryout in deteriorating the environment. Workshops, Advertisements, Debates, Lectures and other techniques for furthering awareness campaigns must be carried out, especially in the urban areas of the country. Further, environmental awareness literature can be included in the syllabus of the students so that they from the very beginning of their lives should adopt a very responsible way of life. Environment is a collective and natural property of all the living beings and it must be protected collectively.