Consent of locals mandatory to set up tire-derived fuel plant: EPA

HARIPUR:

The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) deferred the approval for setting up a tire-derived fuel (TDF) plant, making it mandatory to have consent from the local community. This was stated during a public hearing arranged by EPA at Bestway Cement (BWC) Factory in Farooqia on Wednesday.

BWC had applied to EPA for approval to set up a TDF plant. TDF is produced when tires are mixed with coal or other fuels such as wood to be burned in concrete kilns, power plants or paper mills.

EPA held a public hearing to announce its decision. Speaking on the occasion, K-P EPA Director General Dr Bashir Khan said unless locals were satisfied, factory owners would not be issued a no-objection certificate.

For this purpose, a five-member committee comprising Sohail Khan from the media, Omar Farooq and Waqas from civil society and two local government members was established. Its function is to visit different industrial zones where TDFs have already been set up.

On the occasion, locals raised objections, stating cement plants and other industries have already made the life of residents in surrounding villages miserable due to unchecked dust, smoke, noise and water pollution.

Sohail said the residents of Hattar, Farooqia and a dozen other villages situated around cement factories were exposed to respiratory diseases as entrepreneurs were least bothered about the harm and damage they were causing to the ecology of the area.

Waqas, who is a local environmentalist, pointed out crops, water bodies and human life were affected negatively as industries and Hattar Economic Zone (HEZ) were not properly monitored for pollution.

Monitoring pollution

Qamar Hayat, another local activist, said locals would allow EPA to approve TDF only when they were guaranteed pollution will be monitored, and health hazards and property losses would be checked.

He stressed the need to share the budget of BWC with elected LG representatives.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 26^th, 2016.