New Delhi: Excessive coal burning at India's thermal power plants has caused smog in their territory, leading to massive economic losses, Pakistan’s Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO) claimed.
The economic losses due to fog during December and January amounted to over Rs 25 billion per annum, claimed Pakistan’s Environmental Protection Agency.
The Dawn reported that SUPARCO officials shared these findings informally with Indian experts several times, but India claimed the fog in Pakistan Punjab was the result of massive vehicular pollution.
The Centre’s denial has forced SUPARCO to conduct a detailed investigation to substantiate its earlier findings, so that Islamabad can raise the issue formally.
The Director-General of SUPARCO, Air Commodore (Retired) Arshad Siraj, was quoted as saying that a three-year study had been launched to further find the sources of pollutants causing smog in Punjab and the impact on the nation’s economy and health.
An earlier study had reportedly revealed that fog was being caused by excessive fossil fuel combustion, mainly coal, in India's north-eastern region.
The study claimed that high sulphate, varying from 49.8 to 141 mg/m3 and nitrate, varying from 3 to 74.5 mg/m3 concentrations had been observed during the fog, which are emitted by combustion of fossil fuel.
An exceptionally high trace element aerosol concentrations, including selenium, arsenic and antimony, was also observed.
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