Financial Tribune - Successive governments have done nothing to improve the quality of the air, especially in mega cities, and expecting the deteriorating situation to change overnight would be naive

The determination of the Department of Environment to fight air pollution notwithstanding, the issue is too complicated to be addressed in the short-term and only by one department, head of the state organization said.

“DoE’s hands are tied because the ever-growing menace of pollution is rooted in highly sensitive issues like not disrupting the job market for millions of people,” Isa Kalantari was quoted as saying by IRNA.

Elaborating on the worsening problem, he said close to 11 million motorcycles ply streets, of which 9.6 million need to be sent to the scrap yard because the amount of toxic fumes each of the motorbikes spew into the air equals that of eight vehicles with Euro 4 emission standards.

The government has long been struggling to reduce the ballooning budget deficit and is unable to help the (motorbike) owners to replace their vehicle with new two-wheelers.