Drain pollution: Three teams to survey Charrar drain

The EPD report will be available to WASA and Irrigation Department.

LAHORE:

The city district government (CDGL) on Tuesday sent three teams to collect sewage samples from the Charrar drain to determine levels and variety of toxins and pollutants in the drain, APP reported.

The Environment Protection Department (EPD) report will be available to the Water and Sanitation Authority and the Irrigation Department.

Naseemur Rahman, the EPD spokesman, told The Express Tribune that earlier, environment protection orders (EPOs) were issued to some 60 factories in and around Charrar village for disposing of untreated industrial sewage into the drain. The drain opens into Hadyara drain which falls in to River Ravi.

The EPOs, he said, were issued on orders of the EPD secretary, who had directed the factory owners to install treatment plants to avoid the polluting the river.

He said after inspecting the drain, the CDGL teams will report to the EPD tribunal in case of non-compliance. Factories found dumping untreated sewage into the drain will be fined by the department, he said.

As many as 18 factories that earlier disposed untreated wastes into the Hadyara drain have installed treatment plants following the EPD notices.



Published in The Express Tribune, May 11^th, 2011.