Call for environmental awareness by a caretaker CM

LAHORE: Caretaker Chief Minister of Punjab Najam Sethi asked the concerned department to launch a public awareness drive to bring improvement in the environmental sector of the province.

He directed the provincial EPA to take across the board action against polluters and control the rising level of pollution in both urban and rural areas of Punjab. He also urged Lahore Waste Management Company to take immediate steps to maintain cleanliness and address the issue of solid waste mismanagement on priority basis.

Caretaker CM is widely acclaimed for his politico social wisdom and entire world read and hear his every word because of his analytical skills on important issue. But the way he directed to raise environmental awareness in the province is little bit perplexing for those who are his passionate admirers.

There is no doubt about the fact the Sethi Sahab must have perfect knowledge of the gloomy state of the environment sector of Pakistan and he must also know how difficult and time consuming it is to put any of the sectors of Pakistan on right track.

Despite of these ground realities if he issued such a cosmetic statement it means he is just fulfilling the formalities and nothing more. Under the Constitution of Pakistan the main job of a caretaker government is to ensure the transition of power in an amicable manner. If it asks for an action for a problem that needs a long-term solution it means formalities have stepped in its affairs. It is an open secret that a drive for environmental awareness can never bring results in a month or two while the maximum period of present caretaker setup is same.

Public awareness is a long term process. For the last twenty years all the provincial EPAs are engaged in this process rightly or wrong. But their mechanism to raise public awareness is quite lethargic. Instead of first setting the long term goals and then conduct a drive most of the EPAs simply conduct an awareness program on standalone basis and never do its follow up. That is why whoever holds power even for a slight period of two months never forgets to issue a statement on an issue that does not seem to be solved with present arrangements.