Water quality: Forget slums, posh sectors are also among the biggest polluters

Navy, Air Force-controlled sectors lack proper sewage; Bani Gala also a major polluter.

ISLAMABAD:

Katchi abadis are not alone in polluting the ravines and brooks running down the Margalla Hills. The posh sectors, controlled by the Navy and Air Force respectively, are also “major polluters”.

And “since [the air force and navy] are managing the services in these sectors, the responsibility of treating sewage from sectors E-8 and E-9 rests with them,” Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani said in a written reply to a question raised by a Pakistan Peoples Party member.

MNA Justice (retd) Fakhrunnisa Khokhar asked during the question hour session on Thursday about the pollution and putrefaction of the ravines and brooks running down from the hills. She also asked about steps taken by the Capital Development Authority (CDA) to address the problem.

In his reply, the Prime Minister (PM) said, “Katchi abadis are being shifted and upgraded, after which pollution will be controlled substantially.”

“Housing societies in E-11 are also required to construct sewage treatment plants, but have not started work on them. The CDA is vigorously pursuing them on the matter,” the reply said, adding that “villages north of Islamabad are also polluting these ravines.”

The Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency (Pak-EPA) and ICT are responsible for controlling the pollution generated by villages within the ICT’s jurisdiction. In Noorpur, Muslim Colony and Bani Gala, the CDA has plugged the sewage lines of houses which are discharging sewage in to ravines, the PM said.

The buildings that are discharging their sewage directly into ravines within the city are being issued notices under the CDA Environmental Protection Regulation 2008, he replied.

A senior CDA official told The Express Tribune that the government did not respond to the CDA’s proposals, due to which timely action could not be ensured in many cases. A CDA summary regarding the replacement of the existing 40-year-old sewage system in the city has been pending before the Planning Commission for the last nine months, he said.

Pak-EPA officials said that the body has become “toothless” after the 18th Amendment, citing funds shortages for halting important operations including water quality testing in Rawal Dam and other water sources for the capital.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 7^th, 2012.