Industrial pollution: EPD begins survey of marble units
‘Marble dust levels in Johar Town and Township at dangerous levels’.
LAHORE:
The Environmental Protection Department has started a survey of marble cutting units at Ghazi Road, College Road and Ichhra to assess their impact on air and water quality, The Express Tribune has learnt.
The EPD director general ordered the survey after a question about the pollution from the three marble unit clusters in Lahore was raised in the Punjab Assembly. The survey report is to be completed in two weeks and then submitted to the director general and the chief minister for further orders.
EPD officials told The Express Tribune that most marble cutting units, together with selling points, were located in residential and commercial areas rather than industrial zones. Marble dust from these units is a source of air pollution, while the noise and vibration from the cutting of marble is a cause of worry for nearby shop owners and residents, said an EPD inspector, on the condition of anonymity.
The officials said that notices had been issued to the owners of around 45 units situated near the entrance to the Defence Housing Authority on Ghazi Road and near its junction with Ferozepur Road seeking information about the amount of marble powder they dispose of daily and how they dispose of it. The owners of 25 of 50 units on College Road have also been notified. Notices will soon be issued to about 50 marble cutting units in Ichhra.
Younas Zahid, the deputy district officer (environment), said that all marble units in the city should be relocated to an industrial zone far from dense commercial and residential areas.
He said that in the past, when the department had issued environmental protection orders (EPOs) to marble units, they had responded by organising protests by their workers and sometimes with physical abuse of EPD inspectors. On occasions when the environment tribunal had ordered marble units to relocate, they had usually shifted to another residential area. “We believe that a separate space, away from dense commercial and residential zones, is needed for these marble units,” he said.
An inspector monitoring units on College Road between Johar Town and Township said that levels of marble dust in the atmosphere had reached “exceedingly dangerous levels” where breathing was difficult.
He said the waste produced by marble units was usually mixed with water in large containers and decanted onto the street or in open spaces and plots in Johar Town and Township. This sludge affected the quality of groundwater in the region, he said. “The situation worsens every time it rains,” he added.
A chemical expert told The Express Tribune that lime dust (calcium oxide) particles are small and can pass into the respiratory duct. If inhaled over a long period of time, the accumulated dust can cause asthma and tuberculosis. He said that it made groundwater hard, but not a health hazard.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 14th, 2012.
The Environmental Protection Department has started a survey of marble cutting units at Ghazi Road, College Road and Ichhra to assess their impact on air and water quality, The Express Tribune has learnt.
The EPD director general ordered the survey after a question about the pollution from the three marble unit clusters in Lahore was raised in the Punjab Assembly. The survey report is to be completed in two weeks and then submitted to the director general and the chief minister for further orders.
EPD officials told The Express Tribune that most marble cutting units, together with selling points, were located in residential and commercial areas rather than industrial zones. Marble dust from these units is a source of air pollution, while the noise and vibration from the cutting of marble is a cause of worry for nearby shop owners and residents, said an EPD inspector, on the condition of anonymity.
The officials said that notices had been issued to the owners of around 45 units situated near the entrance to the Defence Housing Authority on Ghazi Road and near its junction with Ferozepur Road seeking information about the amount of marble powder they dispose of daily and how they dispose of it. The owners of 25 of 50 units on College Road have also been notified. Notices will soon be issued to about 50 marble cutting units in Ichhra.
Younas Zahid, the deputy district officer (environment), said that all marble units in the city should be relocated to an industrial zone far from dense commercial and residential areas.
He said that in the past, when the department had issued environmental protection orders (EPOs) to marble units, they had responded by organising protests by their workers and sometimes with physical abuse of EPD inspectors. On occasions when the environment tribunal had ordered marble units to relocate, they had usually shifted to another residential area. “We believe that a separate space, away from dense commercial and residential zones, is needed for these marble units,” he said.
An inspector monitoring units on College Road between Johar Town and Township said that levels of marble dust in the atmosphere had reached “exceedingly dangerous levels” where breathing was difficult.
He said the waste produced by marble units was usually mixed with water in large containers and decanted onto the street or in open spaces and plots in Johar Town and Township. This sludge affected the quality of groundwater in the region, he said. “The situation worsens every time it rains,” he added.
A chemical expert told The Express Tribune that lime dust (calcium oxide) particles are small and can pass into the respiratory duct. If inhaled over a long period of time, the accumulated dust can cause asthma and tuberculosis. He said that it made groundwater hard, but not a health hazard.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 14th, 2012.