urban environmental challenges and poverty …pages.uoregon.edu/aweiss/intl442_542/2016...
TRANSCRIPT
Ray
2
InthisreportIwilldiscusssomeofthemostpressingurbanenvironmentalchallengesthat
Pakistaniscurrentlyfacing.Theseinclude;
à waterquality
à sanitation
à agriculture
à urbanairpollution
à solidwastemanagementand,
à climatechangeandnaturaldisasters
Iwillcontinuetoaddressthefollowingissuesregardingpovertyalleviation;
à politicaleconomy
à existingplansinvolvingpovertyalleviation
Lastly,IwillprovidesomesuggestionsthatarealignedwithSAARC’sideals.
Ray
3
UrbanizationinPakistan
Pakistanisthesixthmostpopulatedcountryintheworldwithapopulationofover
200millionpeople(CIAWorldFactbook).TheurbanizationofPakistanisincreasingata
ratethatisquickerthananyotherSouthAsiancountry.Theurbanizationrateis3percent,
resultinginapopulationgrowthofmillionsofPakistaniseveryyear.
UrbanizationinPakistandatesbacktoPartitionwhenmillionsofIndianMuslims
crossedintoPakistanandsettledintourbanareas.MigrationintoPakistancontinued
severalyearslaterasmoreIndianssettledintoPakistaniurbanareasduringthewarsof
1965and1971(Kugelman).Inthe1990s,migrationintoPakistanoccurredagainasupto4
millionAfghanscrossedtheDurandLine.
Kugelmanidentifiestwomaincausesofpresent-dayurbanization:
1. Rural-urbanmigrations
2. NaturalincreaseofPakistan’spopulation
Peoplearemovingfromruraltourbanareasinordertoescapeconflictinruralareas.
Pakistanisarealsomovingtocitiesbecauserurallivelihoodshavebeennegativelyaffected
byenvironmentalconcernssuchaswatershortages.Figure1illustratesthecurrent
populationdispersioninPakistan,withthetwomostpopulatedcitiesbeingKarachi(9.3
million)andLahore(5.1million).Environmentalchallengesandpovertyalleviationefforts
aremostprevalentinthesepopulatedareas.
Ray
4
Figure1:Populationdensity.Source:OCHA
UrbanEnvironmentalChallengesinPakistan
UrbanEnvironmentalChallenges:CleanWater
Pakistanreceives250mmofrainfallayear,makingitawater-stressedcountry.Water
scarcityisexpectedtoincreaseasPakistan’spopulationgrows.Inurbanareas,thewater
thatdoesexistisheavilypolluted,whichcreatesdiseaseamongthepoor(WorldBank).
Typhoid,diarrhea,wormsandhepatitisarethemostcommonwater-relateddiseasesin
poorurbanareas.
UrbanEnvironmentalChallenges:Sanitation
Ray
5
Therapidurbanizationofcitieshasresultedinissuessurroundingaccesstoproper
sanitation.68millionpeoplelackaccesstotoiletsinPakistan.PublicdefecationinPakistan
isquitecommon,andispositionedthirdbehindIndiaandIndonesia.Thisleadsto
prevalentdiseasewithinthepoorurbanareasofPakistan(WaterAid).Thereareeffortsto
addressissuessurroundingsanitationatthefederallevel,throughtheMinistryofHealth,
andattheprovinciallevel,intheformoflocalgovernment.However,alackoffundingand
followthroughhasledtostagnantdevelopmentofthisissue.Poorsanitationfacilitiesadd
tothehighincidenceofdiseaseaswell.Childrenareespeciallysusceptibletowaterrelated
diseases.Water-bornediseaseshaveasignificantimpactontheeconomy.
UrbanEnvironmentalChallenges:Agriculture
Lackofwaterchallengesagriculturalgrowth.Pakistan,however,isreliantontheIndus
Riverforitssurfacewater,makingPakistanparticularlyvulnerabletowaterpollution.
FortypercentofthePakistanipopulationisemployedintheagriculturalsector
whichleavesmuchofthepopulationconcernedwithenvironmentalissuessuchaswater
quality(USAID).Environmentaldegradationhasledtoadecreaseinagricultural
productivityandaffectsthosewhoarepoor.Peoplehavelosttheirjobsasaconsequenceof
pollutedwateranddeforestation.Environmentalchallengeswithintheagriculturalsphere
actasacatalystforpoverty.
UrbanEnvironmentalChallenges:UrbanAirPollution
Ray
6
Pakistanisaheavilyurbanizedcountry.Urbanairpollutionisadirectresultofthegrowing
urbanizationofPakistan.Theprimarysourcesofairpollutionarepoorlymaintained
vehicles,factoriesandpowerplants.Theconcentrationofparticulatematterinthecitiesof
Karachi,Lahore,Islamabad,Peshawar,QuettaandRawalpindiareaboveWorldHealth
Organization’sguidelines(WorldBank).Thepoorairqualityyieldsnumeroushealth
effectsthroughoutPakistan,asdefinedinTable1.Inadditiontoparticulatematteremitted
byvehiclesandfactories,thereisahighamountofairbornelead.Leadcanbecome
airbornefromavarietyofsources,includingleadpipesandleadpaint,andcauses
disabilitiestothoseexposed.In2005,morethan22,600adultsdiedfromurbanair
pollution(Ahmed).Rapidurbanizationleadstoanincreaseinvehicleuseandvehicle
emissionsarethemaincauseofairpollution(figure2).Ingeneral,thereisalackof
enthusiasmfromthePakistanigovernmenttoaddressissuessurroundingairpollution.
Figure2:MotoristsinPakistan.Source:WorldBank
Ray
7
Poorairqualityisnotlimitedtovehicleemission.32percentofurbanPakistani
householdsmakefiresfrombiomassfuelsinsidetheirhomes(WorldBank).Thisleadsto
bronchitis,asthma,andrespiratoryinfectioninwomen,childrenandtheelderly.
ThereareseveraleffortstocombatenvironmentalissuesinPakistan,asoutlinedinthe18th
AmmendmenttotheConstitutionofPakistan.Specifically,theNationalEnvironmentPolicy
andtheNationalClimateChangePolicyareexpectedtobeinfluential(Sheikh).
UrbanEnvironmentalChallenges:WasteManagement
ProperwastemanagementisasignificantconcerninPakistan’surbanareas.Accordingto
Pakistan’sEnvironmentProtectionDepartment,thereareseveralmainproblemsregarding
wastemanagement:
- Thereisnoproperwastecollectionsystem
- Wasteisdumpedonthestreets
- Differenttypesofwastearenotcollectedseparately
- Therearenocontrolledsanitarylandfillsites
- Citizensarenotawareoftherelationshipbetweenwaysofdisposingofwasteand
theresultingenvironmentalandpublichealthproblems
Thehealthhazardsassociatedwiththisareextensive;infectionanddiseaseareprevalent
amongtheurbanpoor.Improperwastemanagementalsoleadstogroundwater
contamination,whichineffectleadstowaterissuesdiscussedearlier.Thereisnot
currentlyanylegislatureaddressingthisissue(EnvironmentProtectionDepartment).
Ray
8
ClimateChangeandNaturalDisasters
ClimatechangehasparticularlydevastatingpotentialinPakistan,asPakistanislargely
reliantonthemonsoonandglacialmeltforproductivity.Asaresultofclimatechange,
floodshavebecomemorecommon,disruptingagricultureandcreatingfoodsecurityissues
throughoutPakistan.
Pakistandealswithnaturaldisastersinareactionarymannerandmostofthefocus
onreliefisonflooding.Since1955therehavebeenaseriesof5-yeardisastermanagement
plansinPakistanthatprimarilyfocusonfloodmanagement(Cheema).Thecurrentdisaster
managementplaniscalledVision2030.Vision2030will“povertyalleviationthrough
controlovernaturalcalamitiessuchasfloods,droughtsormanmadeeventssuchaswars,
andthroughintroductionofagricultureinsuranceagainstdrought”(PlanningCommission
ofPakistan)
Figure3:Source:Cheema
Ray
9
PovertyAlleviationinPakistan
PovertyAlleviation:PoliticalEconomy
Sinceindependence,thePakistanigovernmenthasnotprovidedpropersupporttothosein
need.ThisfailuretoassistthepoorhasledtoanincreaseinimpoverishmentinPakistan.
(Weiss).Whilemostgovernmenthasbeengenerallylacklusterinsupportingthepoor,
Bhuttoprovestobeanexception.Lievenwrites,inPakistan:AHardCountry,
“ZulfikarAliBhuttoistheonlyPakistanileadertohaseverspokentothepoorasifthey
mattered”(Lieven238).Itisarguablethatthecurrentgovernmentdoesnotinfact
acknowledgetheneedsofthepoor,asthosewholiveinimpoverishedurbanareasstill
sufferfromlackofaccesstocleanwater,sanitation,andhousing,tonameafew.
PlanstoAlleviatePoverty
ThePakistanPeople’sPartyattemptedtoalleviatepovertybyestablishingtheBenazir
BhuttoIncomeSupportFund(BISF).Thisfundallocated34billionrupeestosupportthe
monthlyincomesofimpoverishedfamilies(Weiss).Thematriarchofthefamilyreceived
themoney,therebysupportingwomen’sempowerment.Thisprogramhasreceivedsome
critique.SomeconsideredtheBISFnotapovertyalleviationeffort,butasubsidyprogram.
Thefunddoesnotdirectlysupporteducationordevelopment.Accusationssurrounding
‘missingfunds’exist.
TheInternationalMonetaryFund(IMF)releasedareportin2010outliningeffortsto
reducepovertyinPakistan.Twomaincomponentsofthisreportincludeareformed
generalsalestax,andanelectricityreform.Theelectricityreformaimstoaddressloan
sheddingandprovideelectricitytothepoor.
Ray
10
Recommendations
AlthoughSAARChasconsideredenvironmentalissuesinPakistan,therehasbeenalackof
follow-throughfromthePakistanigovernment.Urbanenvironmentalissuesandpoverty
arecloselyrelatedandPakistanwouldbenefitfromreconsideringpoliciesregarding
environmentalchallengesandpovertyalleviation.
à Investintechnologiestobuildinfrastructuresuchaspublictransportation,clean
energy,andwaterandsanitation.Urbanairimprovementshouldbeapriority
becausecurrenttrendssuggestthattheairqualitywillworsendramaticallywith
time.Thismightlooklikeaninvestmentinpublictransportationinfrastructureand
apromotionofnon-motorizedtransport.
à StrengthenSAARC’sinstitutionalframeworksurroundingnaturaldisasterplans,
andutilizealessreactionaryapproachthanwhathasbeenusedinthepast.
Specifically,afloodpreparednessprogramwouldbegreatlybeneficialasfloodsare
commonanddevastating.
Ray
11
WorksCited
Ahmed,Amin."Pakistan’sUrbanAirPollutionofftheCharts:WorldBank."DAWN.COM. Dawn,14July2014.Web.16Nov.2016.Cheema,Abdur."ExploringtheRoleoftheMosqueinDealingwithDisasters:ACaseStudy ofthe2005EarthquakeinPakistan."Diss.MasseyU,2012.Web.--"EnvironmentalIssuesandImpacts."EnvironmentalIssues(n.d.):5-22.WorldBank.World Bank,14Nov.2016.Haider,Murtaza."Pakistan’sPowerCrisis:Trans-MissionImpossible."DAWN.COM.N.p.,24 July2015.Web.16Nov.2016.Kugelman,Michael.UrbanisationinPakistan:CausesandConsequences(n.d.):n.pag. UrbanisationinPakistan:CausesandConsequences.NorwegianPeacebuilding ResourceCenter,Jan.2013.Web.13Nov.2016--"Pakistan:PopulationDensity(asof26August2013)."ReliefWeb.OCHA,36Aug.2013. Web.16Nov.2016.PlanningCommissionofPakistan.Pakistaninthe21stcentury:Vision2030(2007). Islamabad:PlanningCommissionofPakistan,GovernmentofPakistanQasim,Mohammed."PakistanFailstoControlRapidGrowthofPopulation."Islamabad. International,11July2016.Web.16Nov.2016.Sánchez-Triana,Ernesto."WorldBank."SpringerReference(n.d.):n.pag.Cleaning Pakistan'sAir.WorldBank,2014.Web.Nov.2016.Sheikh,AliTauqeer."ClimateChange:Pakistan'sExistentialChallenge."Democracy, SustainableDevelopmentandPeace.Oxford:OxfordUP,2014.315-32.Print.--"WasteManagementSeries."SolidWaste:Assessment,MonitoringandRemediationWaste ManagementSeries(2004):1-5.PakistanEnvironment.13Nov.2016.Weiss,Anita.“SurvivingPakistan’sCities:AComplexWebofChallengesandAlternatives.”(2013):1-26