KARACHI: Sepa report says Indus water highly polluted
By Our Staff Reporter
KARACHI, Feb 16: Water in the Indus and various lakes and canals being fed by it is highly polluted and poses serious threats to human health as well as to the environment and biodiversity, says a report.
The Rs11 million one-year (2004-2005) report on “Water quality monitoring programme in Sindh” conducted by the Sindh Environmental Protection Agency (Sepa) was sponsored by the National Drainage Authority and was launched at a function on Saturday.
Experts speaking at the launch ceremony stressed that many laws, including the specific environmental protection legislations, existed only on paper. They added that there were two reasons why the laws were not implemented: one, a dearth of technically qualified people; two, clout wielded by polluters. Presenting the results, S.M. Yahya of Sepa said water sampling was carried out at 21 spots, including Guddu, Sukkur, Dadu, Kotri and Sujawal barrages; near Latifabad (Hyderabad) and the Danistar canal; and the Hamal, Manchhar, Keenjhar and Haleji lakes and the K.B. Feeder, Phulali, Pinyari canals, etc.
He said the results revealed that the pollution load was many times more than the safe limits prescribed by the World Health Organization, the European Union, etc and coliform that should not be present in water at all was present at all places -- and measured more than 1,000 per 100 millilitres at certain places.
He said the study showed that BOD -- biological oxygen demand which is said to be a water quality indicator and stands for the biodegradability of organic matter dissolved or suspended in water –ranged between 51.2 mg/l near the Danistar canal and 25.5 mg/l at the Guddu Barrage; from 117.2mg/l at the Manchhar lake to 60 mg/l at the Keenjhar lake.
BOD should be less than 6.5 mg/l.
The official said that COD -- chemical oxygen demand which is a measure of pollution load, (industrial and sewage wastewater) – ranged between 121 mg/l at the Danistar canal and 63.6 mg/l at the Guddu Barrage.
COD should be less than 5 mg/l.
He said coliform, which is commonly associated with faeces of humans and animals and has long been recognized as a suitable microbial indicator of drinking water quality, ranged from 932 per 100 ml at Dadu barrage to 349 per 100 ml at Sujawal barrage; and from 1,046 per 100 ml at Hamal lake to 851 per 100 ml at Haleji lake and up to 1,100 in Pinyari canal.Coliform should not be present in water bodies at all.
Sindh Caretaker Environment Minister Jam Karam Ali said the study results portrayed a grim picture of the situation. However, he said he hoped Sepa would soon overcome it and improve the situation.
He said water was essential for life and it was the present generation’s responsibility to leave good quality water for future generations.
Sindh Environment Secretary Mir Hussein Ali said that owing to the scarcity of technically qualified men the implementation of laws had been far from ideal, but now the Sindh Public Service Commission had been approached to get qualified men recruited after which the situation would improve.
He said pollution in water was increasing, which posed a serious threat to human health as well as to the environment. He said Manchhar lake, one of the largest fresh-water lakes in Asia, had almost been destroyed while another important lake, Keenjhar, was degrading at a fast pace.
Dr Ghulam Akber of the World Wide Fund for Nature said that the population was increasing at a rapid pace and every year 2.9 million people were added which put additional pressure on the fast depleting water resources.
He said that arsenic – a deadly substance -- was found in at least eight cities across the country. He said although he was a supporter of eco-tourism, the ill-planned and unchecked tourism was ruining Keenjhar Lake – a Ramsar Site, the highest status a wetland could have internationally from the conservation point of view – where vehicles were washed and untreated sewage from tourist facilities went into the lake. He said billions of rupees were being spent on health because of waterborne diseases.
He said fish in the lakes had also decreased because of water pollution and the number of migratory birds which came from colder central Asian regions to spend their winters at local wetlands had also gone down on account of pollution as well as less fish stock in the lakes.
Hashim Leghari of the Sindh Irrigation and Drainage Authority said the National Environmental Quality Standards were very liberal than the standards prescribed by the WHO, EU or other international agencies and stressed that the NEQS be reviewed and be made stringent.
Sepa director-general Abdul Malik Ghauri also spoke.
