SEPA seals factory over failure to control pollution

Says it was releasing harmful pollutants without any mitigation measures

KARACHI:

The Sindh Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) has sealed a factory of petrocarbon products for polluting the air by discharging harmful pollutants without any mitigation measures.

According to details, Sindh Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) Director General Naeem Mughal had earlier issued an Environmental Protection Order (EPO) to the factory situated in Bin Qasim Town.

The factory discharged pollutants while producing raw material for tyre manufacturing from raw petrol.

Through the EPO, the unit was informed that SEPA had observed the release of thick black smoke and emissions from its operations and the fumes were causing environmental pollution and affecting the surrounding areas.

According to SEPA, the factory was being operated without installation of relevant equipment to eliminate or control the discharge of emissions.

Read: Rising air pollution triggers more lung diseases

Subsequently, the management of the enterprise was offered a personal hearing by SEPA director general so it could defend its position however, officials from the factory did not avail it and gave no response in this regard.

Keeping this in view, SEPA directed the factory to control the release of pollutants with immediate effect. Officials from SEPA paid a visit to the unit after two days of the issuance of EPO and found it to be violating the rules which was in complete disregard of the order.

Consequently, SEPA director general ordered sealing of the factory till it installed an appropriate environmental management system for its operations and halted the release of pollutants in the air.

While endorsing the action of SEPA, EHS Services CEO and senior environmentalist Saquib Ejaz Hussain said that “it is time to take stringent actions and close down the high polluting units around Bin Qasim area”.

Otherwise, the air shed of the environment of Bin Qasim would soon achieve its saturation levels and leave no cushion for new industrial establishments and investments, he told The Express Tribune.

Hussain highlighted that air pollution was rapidly emerging as a major threat to cardiovascular health of the public. He argued that research had linked air pollution, toxic metals and chemical pollutants to increased cardiovascular diseases, morbidity and mortality.

He further stressed that the WHO had already warned that without corrective efforts, mortality rates from air pollution were expected to increase by as much as four folds in the next few decades.

Employers Federation of Pakistan (EFP) President Ismail Suttar said that pollution from a factory unit should be rectified by its owners. Production units needed to be compliant with the environmental laws and National Environmental Quality Standards (NEQS).

He urged SEPA to work hand in hand with the industry and give the factory some time for rectification. “Acting as police will not help our economy,” he held the view.

Partnerships between government agencies and the private sector are the key to an industrialised Pakistan, which is the actual way forward for the nation, he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 25^th, 2022.

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