SEPA told to survey factories dumping waste into sea

Survey report to be submitted to judicial commission on water within 4 days


Naeem Sahoutara January 12, 2017
Mechanised system for waste collection from major roads also under study. PHOTO: REUTERS

KARACHI: The Sindh Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) was ordered on Thursday to survey all factories producing hazardous waste and dumping it into the sea without treatment.

The survey report is due within four days, said the judicial commission set up to probe the allegations that the Sindh government has failed to provide clean drinking water and proper sanitation.

Justice Muhammad Iqbal Kalhoro of the Sindh High Court, who is heading the commission established in compliance of the Supreme Court orders, issued these directives after Sepa director Waqar Hussain admitted that the agency had not conducted any survey to identify the industrial units falling within any of its three categories.

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He explained that the industries falling in the A category produce severe hazardous or poisonous effluents, therefore, it is mandatory for them to install waste-water-treatment plants. Those in the B category also produce hazardous and poisonous effluent but it is relatively lesser in volume than those in the A category, he added.

The C category comprises mainly dry units, which either do not produce any hazardous effluent or produce then within permissible standards. However, no survey has been conducted to identify such units, he admitted.



Meanwhile, North Karachi Industrial Area Association's secretary-general Mirza Muhammad Hussain told the commission that 2,200 industrial units of varying categories are operating in the North Karachi Industrial Area. The garbage was being removed by ZM Corporations under a contract, he said.

He admitted, however, that industrial effluent and waste was being discharged in the Lyari River through the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB) pipelines network 'without any treatment.' A treatment plant was installed in Gabol Town more than 20 years ago but it was not functional, he said.

For his part, FB Area Industrial Area Association's chief executive officer Rehan Zeeshan said 300 industrial units were installed in his area. The garbage was being removed through a contractor but there was no plant to treat industrial waste, he said, adding that most units were not producing any hazardous and toxic effluents.

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The secretaries-general of the two industrial areas' association said they were ready to cooperate with Sepa for the survey and identify which categories the industrial units fell under.

The commission also issued show-cause notices to the presidents of the Landhi and Korangi industrial areas associations to explain why they had failed to appear in court despite being served notices. They were directed to appear on Friday (today) before the commission with their explanations.

Earlier, Justice Kalhoro visited the water reservoirs in Manghopir and took note of excessive excavation of sand and gravel by private contractors and its impact on the environment as well as the reservoir.

The commission issued notices to the West Range DIG, district West's deputy commissioner and West SSP to appear with their reports today.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 13th, 2017.

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