Canal pollution: Effluent exceeds permissible limit by 4000%

LAHORE:

The biological oxygen demand (BOD) level of effluent in the waste released by 12 housing societies in the Lahore Canal is 400 parts per million (ppm), says a report prepared by the Pakistan Council of Science and Industrial Research (PCSIR).

The report says this is 4,000 per cent more than the maximum permissible level of 10ppm.

At this level, the effluent discharged in the canal can expose people bathing in it to diarrhoea and skin infections.

It says that a large number of people bathe in the canal in summer months and that serious steps should be taken to ensure that the discharge of sewage was stopped or BOD levels brought down to the permissible limit.

The Environment Protection Department has already issued notices to these housing societies, the Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa) and two union councils in this regard.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 6^th, 2011.