# _Urban and Industrial Air Pollution_

The level of air pollution is not known because very little information is available on industrial emissions in Pakistan. Industry indiscriminately releases carcinogens (such as asbestos and soot), radioactive substances arising from nuclear waste and other manufacturing, and particulate matter and noxious fumes (such as carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, and hydrogen sulfide) into the air, and air quality is declining. A 1985 survey found that only 3 percent of industrial plants in Pakistan treated their wastes according to commonly accepted international standards.

Air pollution primarily affects urban areas, where the density of industry and vehicles prevents pollutants from being dispersed. Urban air pollution consists of particulate, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, ozone, hydrocarbons, and heavy metals (such as lead).

Little information is available on the extent of environmental damage caused by industrial emissions, although observations close to major cities and industrial complexes indicate that the problems are severe.

Economywide policy failures are directly related to air pollution. Air typically becomes polluted because the social costs of emissions are not fully taken into account by decisionrakers motivated by private profit, and because state enterprises, which may not be profit maximizing, fail to internalize the environment. As was the case for industrial and urban waste water problems, such market failure suggests a need for government intervention through targeted environmental policies.

Retail prices to households for nontradable energy products, such as electricity and natural gas, remain below the economic cost of supply.

Several incentive-based approaches that have been used effectively in other countries-including emissions taxes, tradable pollution permits, and economic incentives for industries to acquire environment-friendly technology-have not been tried in Pakistan. Instead, the government has relied on regulatory approaches, which can be effective only if they are adequately monitored and enforced. Because provincial EPAs, which are responsible for monitoring and enforcement, are poorly equipped in terms of both equipment and trained staff, regulation has been largely ineffective, and industries are more or less free to pollute at will.

# _Marine and Coastal Zone Pollution_

The coastal environment has changed over time, partly as a result of the massive take-off from the Indus River for irrigation and extensive pollution, particularly around the Karachi area. Most striking is the reduction in the mangrove forests, which has adversely affected fish and shellfish nurseries. Construction of barrages has reduced the size of fish catches and reduced the sediment load reaching the ocean, causing coastal erosion.

For the most part, marine and coastal zone pollution in Pakistan is limited to Karachi, a city of 8 million people that accounts for about 45 percent of the country's industry. All of Karachi's industrial waste, effluents, and domestic sewage, and all of the agricultural run-off from the hinterland and the Indus River find their way, untreated, into the sea.

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