Environmental Laboratories working in the private sector in Punjab have agreed to develop a code of conduct which could ensure smooth functioning and discourage wrong practices by certain labs leading towards a pollution-free environment in the province.

The consensus was developed at the first meeting of the Association of Environmental Laboratories (AEL) Punjab held at the premises of one of its member GEL, said Information Secretary Environment Consultants Association of Pakistan (ECAP) and Association of the Environmental Laboratories Aleem Butt while talking to Business Recorder.

Butt said that the members had been receiving complaints that certain elements were involved in issuing fake reports or charging very low as compared to well-equipped laboratories. He said to check this kind of unfair practices, the Association members decided to develop a code of conduct. They also decided to fix the minimum threshold of the fee. He said that certain labs had dropped their rates of issuing Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) on which, it was impossible to practically work to assess the environmental impact of any project.

He said the meeting also decided that a verification system of EIA reports should also be developed. They decided to request the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) to develop such a system to discourage the wrong practices, Aleem Butt further said and added that fake reports or wrong EIA are causing damage to our environment. Participants of the meeting felt that if a correct baseline survey of any area is not produced then how can pollutants and pollution level will be identified leading to proper steps to tackle the situation.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2019