LAHORE, Sep 5: The River Ravi, into which untreated waste from over 350 industrial units from all over Punjab is being poured everyday, may soon receive a little relief in the form of a foreign funded waste-treatment plant designed to cleanse the effluent of around 190 industries.

Imtiaz Abid, Wasa deputy managing director, said tendering process for the plant, which would be set up over an area of 7,200 kanals in Sattokatla, could start within three months.

The project, which would be the first of its kind nationwide, was estimated to cost around Rs9 billion. The Olivea group of companies would provide the technology and the government was in the process of securing foreign funding for the project. After funding has been approved, a contract package would be prepared and contract would be awarded through open bidding.

According to Nasimur Rehman, who is a deputy director at the environment protection department (EPD), there were currently no waste treatment plants for industrial units. “From Lahore onwards, the river is purely wastewater,” he said and added that when river water was used to irrigate surrounding fields, harmful bacteria entered the ecosystem via livestock. “As the river travels south, it is used as a source of drinking water in Bahawalnagar and surrounding areas where there are no ground water sources.” If proved successful, more plants would be constructed in two subsequent phases, Abid said and added that a total of eight or nine plants would be required to fully cleanse all of Lahore’s waster water that currently enters the Ravi, including the waste water generated from housing societies. — ISSAM AHMED