Environment Department: Don’t let a committed officer’s work be undone

By Sonia MalikPublished: November 28, 2012


LAHORE: For reporters covering government departments, instances of official sloth and corruption quickly become mundane and familiar.
The Environment Protection Department is no different. It was said of one recent secretary that if he managed to get a mention in the press for himself and the department, he felt his work done for the week.

I’ve been writing about environmental issues for just over a year and during that time, several officials have left the department over corruption chargesl which is why Saeed Iqbal Wahla, who died on November 8, was such a misfit. Appointed EPD secretary in April 2012, Wahla did something remarkable: he worked hard to protect the citizens of the Punjab from the harmful effects of pollution. “He was so dynamic. He brought about changes unmatched by any of his predecessors,” said one EPD official.

I remember talking to him before a meeting at which Wahla was trying to convince some industrialists to set up a shared wastewater treatment plant. Wahla spoke candidly about industries in the Punjab that dump untreated waste into watercourses, introducing carcinogens and other harmful substances into the food chain.

Prior to the meeting, he had EPD officials collect and test water samples to prove his point. I had never seen an EPD official make serious effort to rein in the powerful industries. A committee was formed to look for ways forward, including stricter penalties for polluting factories.

Wahla proposed 13 amendments to the Environment Protection Act 2012 (currently pending approval with a cabinet committee), which would give EPD inspectors greater power to check for violations of the law, introduce a ‘green force’ so they would rely less on the police for enforcement, and improve the collection of fines from factories.

He introduced a more transparent procedure for acquiring a no-objection certificate for setting up a base transceiver station for mobile companies, so corrupt officials could not demand bribes. He demanded weekly performance and audit reports from officials to prevent corruption, forcing at least two officials to leave.

Moreover, he was always willing to speak on the record, a rare quality among government officials, who usually see the press as a tool to manipulate perceptions rather than a medium through which to disseminate information to the public and hold the powerful accountable.

When Wahla was made secretary, the Environmental Tribunal, which hands out penalties and hears cases initiated by the EPD, had not been functional for over a year. He sent furniture, air conditioners and cars from the already underfunded EPD offices to the tribunal offices on Ferozepur Road to get it hearing cases again.

He also reformed hospital waste management and poultry farm rules, and raised fines for vehiclular pollution. During his six or seven months in charge, the EPD issued over 2,000 notices to industries, housing schemes, poultry farms and rice mills for violating environment laws. He set up a separate directorate in the department to tackle the dengue epidemic.

The weekend before his death on November 8, Wahla was in Chakwal pressing cement factories and the local government to improve waste disposal methods in order to protect the historic Katas Raj lake.
An EPD official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that many people at the department, and many other bureaucrats as well as several politicians, disliked Wahla because he did not tolerate corruption and because he made people work hard.

But for the sake of the EPD and its responsibilities to the people of the Punjab, the late secretary’s work must not be forgotten. “The important steps he has taken place extra responsibility on the official who replaces him,” said an EPD officer. “We must not allow the good work to be undone.”

Source: Published in The Express Tribune, November 28th, 2012.