Tanneries’ shifting: ‘No adverse impact on environment’

LAHORE: The Supreme Court on Monday disposed of a suo motu notice after the Punjab government assured it that shifting more than 250 leather tanneries from Sialkot city to nearby villages would not adversely affect the communities living there. Additional Advocate General Faisal Zaman, Sialkot Assistant Commissioner Sheraz Ahmad and a representative of the Tannery Association Naveed Iqbal appeared before the court and submitted that the government had laid a drain for the disposal of effluents. They also submitted a report prepared by the Environment Protection Agency, which assured the apex court that the shifting of tanneries would not cause pollution. Justice Tasadduq Hassain Jilani and Justice Saqib Nisar then disposed of the suo motu, taken in 2010, on a complaint filed by more than 30 petitioners who belong to villages near the new Tannery Zone. The Punjab government acquired 384 acres for shifting more than 250 leather tanneries from the city to the area. The residents of the area, in the petition, said that the tanneries would pollute the water supply and damage their fields, graveyards and schools.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 13^th, 2012.