To limit noise and air pollution, the Islamabad Traffic Police (ITP) fined over 3767 vehicles in the last three months. The crackdown began after the directives of the DIG of Police (Ops) to take strict action against those who are contributing to climate change and causing health risks for the public. This, on its own, is a decent on-ground policy to implement but for real change to come about, the national environmental policy has to be amended and restructured to include vehicle emissions. The automobile industry should be relatively easy to regulate when it comes to limiting the sale of smoke-emitting vehicles and encouraging eco-friendly cars. The challenge lies in addressing the second-hand car market and vehicles that are already on the road.
According to the police, the 3767 vehicles were fined for being smoke-emitting and using pressure horns that cause immediate distress in their surroundings. Plus, additional zones have been set up in which the police have vowed to take punitive measures against those who are contributing to the climate crisis. This is a good initiative to take that is bound to create enough convenience for the masses to think twice before using and buying vehicles that pollute. The excessive fine will also discourage a significant chunk of the population.
However, to get polluting cars off of the streets, there needs to be a holistic and comprehensive strategy that is implemented on a national or provincial level. Regularising vehicular movement requires the use of fitness certificates and records about emission rates that the government must view and analyse. After this, it can devise policies that aim to encourage the replacement of polluting cars with hybrid or electric cars so that environmental impact can be restricted. Caps can be placed on the number of emissions allowed, members of the public can be forced to carry certificates that prove their cars are not hazardous to the environment and the problem as a whole can be tackled at the source level.