Steel mills in residential areas yet to be closed
During the course of hearings of a constitutional petition filed by Nazir Ahmad and Suleman Siddiqui in the Supreme Court (SC), Chief Justice (CJ) Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry directed on July 19 that all steel mills operating in residential sectors of Islamabad that are not equipped with dust indicators are to be closed down. The petition argued that smoke emitting from these steel mills is a health risk for residents living in the proximity of these mills.
The CJ directed Pak-EPA Director General Asif Shujja Khan to make arrangements for the implement of the court’s decision. But to date, neither Pak-EPA nor the steel mills owners have taken steps to make the steel melting and rolling mills environmentally safe.
Steel mills owners said they are currently facing a financial crunch, and as the dust indicators cost millions of rupees, steps are being taken to arrange funds to import the equipment from United Kingdom.
Talking to The Express Tribune, Chief Executive Officer Itehad Steel Mills Islamabad Khalid Javaid said, “A total of Rs30 million have been spent to acquire 10 dust indicators, which will be installed in the steel mills by the end of Ramazan.”
Javaid argued that the court’s order was discriminatory towards the steel mills owners in Islamabad. “The court should also order the closure of steel industries continuously polluting the environment in residential areas across the country.” He urged the Supreme Court to extend its order to install dust indicators for steel mills across the country.
Javaid further said that the steels mills owners had filed for a review of the petition in the SC two weeks back, requesting the CJ to review his decision to close down steel industries in residential areas of Islamabad.
Supporting the counsel of steel mills, Advocate Qammar Afzal, argued in the review plea that the court should set rules for mitigation of pollution in residential areas. “We argued that proper litigation is needed to protect the environment,” he explained.
Director General Pak-EPA Asif Shujja Khan said all steel mills owners are blatantly violating the SC’s order, as owners of the nine steel mills located in residential areas of I-9 and I-10, did not go for ‘Anti Dust monitoring Online System’, which constantly checks level of dust emissions by the mills.
Mian Muhammad Ashraf of the All Pakistan Steel Melting Association told The Express Tribune that the government is now issuing strict orders to install dust indicators at any cost so that the environment could be protected. Giving details, he said there are around 175 steel melting industries and around 600 steel rolling mills currently operating in Pakistan. “All steel mills owners are unaware of the SC’s order and no notice has been issued by Pak-EPA to date,” he added.
Regarding the rules, he said Sections 6 and 25 of the Environment Protection Act 1986 must be implemented in the country and steps should be taken to ensure that all steel mills owners follow these rules. “These rules were introduced in 2008 but yet are to be implemented,” he said. The rules should come into force on the date of their publication in the Official Gazette, said Major (retd) Anjum Pravez of Khawaja Steel Mills Gujranwala.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 17th, 2010.
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