Deadly drains

The tragic incident in DI Khan calls for a strict watch on companies by EPA as to where and how waste is disposed.

Sooner or later, we were bound to read stories such as the recent one of 10 people killed while attempting to cross an open drain by foot in Dera Ismail Khan. The 14-person group fainted while being exposed to toxic effluents, resulting in the death of five members of the same family. Some might blame the people for risking such uncertain waters. However, the responsible body here is the provincial Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the company that dumped the toxic waste in the drain, the Chashma Sugar Mill.

In order to protect humans, strong measures should have been taken, the foremost being the treatment of the toxic chemicals prior to their being dumped in the drain. A bridge to facilitate pedestrians should have been installed with the danger zone properly cordoned off. Getting to the crux of the matter would have been to carefully plan toxic waste management sites, taking into account all regulations, the properties of the waste, and its effects on human and animal health. The impact of chemicals on human biology is vast but we ignore the implications they have on us. We reuse plastic soda bottles for drinking water without realising that plastics contain bisphenol A, a contaminant that affects human endocrinology and reproductive health. Neither do we take care not to dump trash outside our homes and we often see wads of paper or paan wrappers chucked through car windows. Because we do not care about polluting our own country, it is no wonder that our country has become a dumping ground for other countries as we continue to import hazardous plastic and hospital waste from abroad.

The tragic incident in DI Khan calls for a strict watch on companies by provincial EPAs as to where and how waste is disposed. Teaching all employees, from the janitor to the CEO, about the properties, hazards and proper disposal of their materials and byproducts should be mandatory. Until the Ministry of Climate Change enforces these regulations through provincial EPAs, who, in turn, must keep a vigilant watch on factories and mills, it is a long trek uphill to cleaning up the country.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 7^th, 2014.

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