What is Peshawar Clean Air Alliance?
Our Vision
We, the people of Peshawar, believe that clean air is a crucial indicator of sustainable development. It is our shared resource being unethically destroyed on a daily basis and we are dismayed that the air quality in Peshawar has deteriorated over the years. We wish to see the mountains of the Peshawar Valley again, and therefore have agreed on the following vision for clean air in Peshawar.
- We believe none of our fellow citizens in Peshawar should suffer from air pollution.
- We trust that air pollution can be tackled swiftly if there is firm political resolve to do so, and so we call upon the Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and local government of Peshawar to take up air quality in Peshawar as a priority public health and environment emergency.
- We resolve to work together to improve the human quality of life by reducing the incidents of air pollution-related health issues among residents. The aim is to increase the total number of clean air days in Peshawar to over 100 a year by 2025—primarily by cutting levels of air pollution at source, while simultaneously encouraging behavioral changes within us.
Our Team
PCAA has over 90 active members volunteering their time and other valuable
resources in an effort to advocate clean air in Peshawar
Dr. Muhammad Yousaf
Mariam Malik
Our Work
The PCAA is cognizant that improvement in Peshawar’s air quality is not possible without better understanding of the pollutants in the air, their concentration and spatial coverage. Nor is any air pollution control policy implementable unless there is available data on how air pollution is impacting the health and environment of the people of Peshawar, its flora, fauna, and wildlife. Therefore, the actions described below are the start of a journey towards achieving the PCAA’s Vision.
1. Air Pollution Research and Monitoring
The PCAA goal is to have a complete network of air quality monitors in Peshawar operational by the end of 2025. This shall involve the selection of air monitors, selection of sites, connecting the monitors to an online network and arrangements related to the operation and maintenance of the monitors.
3. Emissions Control
The control of emissions in various sectors is the challenge before the PCAA. This workstream involves identifying stakeholders in each contributing category and, with their collaboration, proposing concrete measures and strategies to improve gaseous emissions from each so that the PCAA Vision of improving clean air days in Peshawar is achieved.
2. Membership, Communication, and Media
The more members PCAA will have, the louder its voice will be. This workstream involves admitting new individual and organizational members. It will also involve maintaining contacts with media, ensuring all PCAA events are properly covered in the print and electronic media, and operating the PCAA social media platforms.
4. Health Impacts Research
Research needs to be conducted into how air pollution impacts public health, including studies from Peshawar hospitals and a survey of in-patient ailments to track the incidents of air pollution. Similarly, research can also be conducted into how certain pollutants impact health. This workstream involves identifying health research questions and, with the assistance of the members of the PCAA, carrying out surveys and studies in Peshawar. It will also involve collecting any research on the impacts of air quality on health already conducted in Peshawar and setting up a database of such research.