ISLAMABAD: A parliamentary panel on Thursday proposed the government to consider abolishing and reducing taxes on hybrid cars to contain pollution.
And the Senate Standing Committee requested the regulator to take strict action against environmental law violations and increase penalties in this regard, reported a local English daily.
The Climate Change Act 2017 and status of Climate Change Authority (CCA) was under discussion during the session.
Secretary, Ministry of Climate Change Syed Abu Ahmed Akif informed the committee members that a letter was written to establishment division for preparation of rules of business for CCA. He said no headway was made on this issue by the establishment division.
Akif said Climate Change Council would constitute of over 40 members out of which 10 would belong to public-sector and 30 to private-sector. In reply, MNA Kishwar Khan requested the ministry to have one member each from Senate and National Assembly respectively to ensure parliamentary supervision.
The issue of increasing pollution was the highlight of the session, as the committee expressed worries over dangers posed to marine life and rising deaths of fishes in Rawal Dam in July.
The committee censured the dubious explanation offered by Islamabad Capital Administration which blamed the fish deaths to the pouring of poisonous substances in Rawal Lake compared to Pak-EPA which blamed it on bacterial contamination.
Parliamentary panel also debated about actions being taken by CCA and Pak-EPA to improve air quality in the country. Akif informed the committee about the Environment Monitoring System (EMS) launched with assistance of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and Pak-EPA in 2005, whose aim is to reinforce capacity and activities of ambient air monitoring systems and management.
Climate Secretary also informed the panel that after utilizing the grant, the system stopped functioning and was restored by EPA at a cost of Rs1.8 million.
