Air Pollution In The Environment

Being a developing country there has been innumerable factors that has contributed to the creation of air pollution and among them one of the significant factor is rapid urbanization. The number of cities with a population of over one million increased from three in 1981 to seven in 1998. The menace of air pollution in urban centers, particularly in larger cities, has reached at an alarming proportions. Open burning of solid wastes, including plastic bags, is a common practice in the urban and rural areas, and is compounded by biodegradation of such wastes. Another significant source that has contributed to cause air pollution around the suburbs of major cities is brick manufacturing. Large quantities of coal, leather and rubber wastes are

The Pakistan Environment Protection Act has been promulgated in December 1997 and is considered to be an improvement over the 1983 Environmental Protection Ordinance, and is a reflection of extensive and prolonged consultation with stakeholders. The PEPA is a comprehensive law, and provides for protection, conservation, rehabilitation and improvement of environment, for prevention and control of pollution and promotion of sustainable development. The provisions of PEPA to control Air Pollution are written as follows:-

Section 2, sub-section (iii) defines the term “air pollutant” as any substance that causes pollution of air and includes soot, smoke, dust particles, odor, light, electro-magnetic radiation, heat, fumes, combustion exhaust, exhaust gases, noxious gases, hazardous substances and radioactive

Power generation, open burning of domestic and industrial wastes can be identified as other stationary sources. The mobile source such as the transport sector causes air pollution of 12.5%. The combustion of commercial energy is identified as the primary source of air pollution in Sri Lanka. Transport sector is regarded as the biggest contributor of environmental pollutants. The impact of air pollutants on human health has become a major issue in many cities including Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate the implementation of control measures of air pollution . The laws and regulations as has been adopted by the Sri Lankan government are written as follows:-

(1) National Environment Act of 1980 (Amended in the year 1988 and 2000).

(2) Motor Traffic Act of 1951.

(3) National Environmental (Ambient Air Quality) Regulations of 1994(Amended in 2008).

(4) National Environmental (Vehicle Emission Standards, Fuel and Vehicular Importation Standards) Regulations of 2003(Amended in 2008 and