Steel industries defy Supreme Court orders

The steel industries of Sectors I-9 and I-10 are still operational despite orders from the Supreme Court for their closure. The mills had been directed to close down two weeks ago because of their environmental pollution which had been adversely affecting the health of nearby residents. The court had issued these orders during a constitutional petition hearing filed by Nazir Ahmad and Suleman Siddiqui. At the same time, Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency (PAK-EPA) had been directed to submit a report on the matter.

“It is blatant violation of the Supreme Court’s order,” said Asif Shujja Khan, DG, PAK-EPA, while talking to The Express Tribune. “The owners have not even opted for the Anti-Dust Monitoring Online System yet.”

This system had been under discussion as the best way for factory owners to demonstrate their social responsibility by monitoring the level of smoke in, and its effects on, the environment.

Previously, the CDA and factory owners had agreed that the factories needed to be shifted because residents were being adversely affected. In the original city plan, there was a buffer zone between residential and industrial areas; however, this disappeared later. At the time Spokesperson CDA Ramzan Sajid had said that in the ‘dynamic’ city of Islamabad, there needed to be changes with time and claimed that a master plan could not have accurately covered the needs of the capital.

The CDA had offered space to the factories in some distant, developing sectors of Islamabad to which the owners were willing to shift. The problem was that a large sum of money was required to make this shift and Sajid had admitted that the onus was not on factory owners to cover this cost.

He also revealed however, that the CDA did not have sufficient funds and requested that the government help in covering these costs.

The stalemate had been awaiting official help, but the court ordered these factories to be sealed immediately.

Some owners claim that they had opted for importing online particulate matter monitors to reduce smoke emission. CEO Ittehad Steel Mills Khalid Javaid, while talking to The Express Tribune, said that there are 11 furnace/melting industries operating in the capital at the moment that had all been issued orders to shut down.

He demanded that such harsh steps not be taken as thousands of employees would end up jobless. He asked for time so that the owners could take counter measures. Javaid told the court that they would attain machinery to deal with the smoke within two months.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 20^th, 2010.