Commission to recommend stabilisation pond to clean up the Ravi
Committee on River Ravi to make recommendations to LHC next month.
LAHORE:
The members of the River Ravi Commission have unanimously agreed to recommend that a Constructed wetland be built at Babu Sabu for the treatment of wastewater before its discharge into the Ravi, The Express Tribune has learnt.
Rafay Alam, the commission’s general secretary, said that the recommendation would be presented to the green bench of the Lahore High Court likely on the first or second Friday of November. Alam said that at a commission meeting on October 24, the members had unanimously endorsed the proposal to build a constructed wetland.
A sub committee set up by the commission visited an artificial Wetland and Waste Stablisation Ponds (WSP) being used for wastewater disposal in Islamabad and Faisalabad respectively and discussed its feasibility over several meetings.
The Commision after looking at the proceedings of the subcommittee reached the consensus and suggested a constructed wetland.
The Water and Sanitation Agency also agreed to provide a 50-acre site at Babu Sabu for a pilot project for a constructed wetland as agreed by the Commission.
Ali Hasnain Sayed, Manager Policy at the Worldwide Fund for Nature-Pakistan (WWF-P) has said that the commission has further stressed that Industry through Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) should be urged to adopt indigenous technologies to remove heavy metals at the source.
He said that the Commission emphasized that industries must be more active in removing heavy metals, which are carcinogenic, from their effluent. The industries have been asked to sort it before it enters the pipeline.
He said the Chairman of the River Ravi Commission Dr. Kauser Abdullah Malik has formed a sub-committee to review the proposal and design of the WASA WSP plan for the Northern Lahore at Mehmood Boti. The committee will review the feasibility of the plan and will suggest a management model for that.
He said that the Environment Protection Department had compiled a list of industries discharging waste into the River Ravi, but it needed to be elaborated. “Industries disposing of more dangerous effluents should be identified for implementing the remedial steps he said, adding that, fresh samples would have to be taken from the water courses.
Meanwhile, WWF-Pakistan officials will compile a detailed report over the course of next month regarding the current pollution situation in the Ravi.
The commission was set up on 8th June 2012 under the Lahore High Court in response to a petition filed by the Public Interest Litigation Association of Pakistan (PILA) and the Lahore Conservation Society (LCS) seeking action to clean up the River Ravi. The court has set up the commission to suggest ways to clean up the River Ravi and restore its ecology.
Corrections:
The members of the River Ravi Commission have unanimously agreed to recommend that a constructed wetland be built at Babu Sabu for the treatment of wastewater, and not a stabilization pond mentioned in the version printed on October 31.
A subcommittee formed by the River Ravi Commission visited artificial wetland and waste stabilization ponds in Islamabad and Faisalabad, and not Islamabad and Rawalpindi, as mentioned in the earlier version of the article.
Third, the River Ravi commission was set up on June 8, 2012 by the Green bench of the Lahore High Court and not April 12, 2012, which is the date of filing of the petition.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 31st, 2012.
The members of the River Ravi Commission have unanimously agreed to recommend that a Constructed wetland be built at Babu Sabu for the treatment of wastewater before its discharge into the Ravi, The Express Tribune has learnt.
Rafay Alam, the commission’s general secretary, said that the recommendation would be presented to the green bench of the Lahore High Court likely on the first or second Friday of November. Alam said that at a commission meeting on October 24, the members had unanimously endorsed the proposal to build a constructed wetland.
A sub committee set up by the commission visited an artificial Wetland and Waste Stablisation Ponds (WSP) being used for wastewater disposal in Islamabad and Faisalabad respectively and discussed its feasibility over several meetings.
The Commision after looking at the proceedings of the subcommittee reached the consensus and suggested a constructed wetland.
The Water and Sanitation Agency also agreed to provide a 50-acre site at Babu Sabu for a pilot project for a constructed wetland as agreed by the Commission.
Ali Hasnain Sayed, Manager Policy at the Worldwide Fund for Nature-Pakistan (WWF-P) has said that the commission has further stressed that Industry through Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) should be urged to adopt indigenous technologies to remove heavy metals at the source.
He said that the Commission emphasized that industries must be more active in removing heavy metals, which are carcinogenic, from their effluent. The industries have been asked to sort it before it enters the pipeline.
He said the Chairman of the River Ravi Commission Dr. Kauser Abdullah Malik has formed a sub-committee to review the proposal and design of the WASA WSP plan for the Northern Lahore at Mehmood Boti. The committee will review the feasibility of the plan and will suggest a management model for that.
He said that the Environment Protection Department had compiled a list of industries discharging waste into the River Ravi, but it needed to be elaborated. “Industries disposing of more dangerous effluents should be identified for implementing the remedial steps he said, adding that, fresh samples would have to be taken from the water courses.
Meanwhile, WWF-Pakistan officials will compile a detailed report over the course of next month regarding the current pollution situation in the Ravi.
The commission was set up on 8th June 2012 under the Lahore High Court in response to a petition filed by the Public Interest Litigation Association of Pakistan (PILA) and the Lahore Conservation Society (LCS) seeking action to clean up the River Ravi. The court has set up the commission to suggest ways to clean up the River Ravi and restore its ecology.
Corrections:
The members of the River Ravi Commission have unanimously agreed to recommend that a constructed wetland be built at Babu Sabu for the treatment of wastewater, and not a stabilization pond mentioned in the version printed on October 31.
A subcommittee formed by the River Ravi Commission visited artificial wetland and waste stabilization ponds in Islamabad and Faisalabad, and not Islamabad and Rawalpindi, as mentioned in the earlier version of the article.
Third, the River Ravi commission was set up on June 8, 2012 by the Green bench of the Lahore High Court and not April 12, 2012, which is the date of filing of the petition.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 31st, 2012.