THATTA, Sept 15: The president of the Sindh chapter of PML-Q and former adviser to chief minister on relief, Haleem Adil Sheikh, warns of taking to court all individuals and organisations responsible for polluting Keenjhar Lake, a lifeline for over 20 million population of Karachi and Thatta.

He said that he could no longer keep silent on the gross criminal negligence by the individuals and organisations concerned and would file a petition against them in the Sindh High Court within next two weeks.

He was speaking at a press conference at the Keenjhar Lake on Sunday where he arrived along with a team of experts, lawyers, environmentalists and media persons after conducting on ground study of six inlets streaming out industrial waste of Kotri industrial area, effluent of Kotri town and other chemical waste into the Kalri-Baghar Feeder which filled the lake for onward supply to Karachi.

He regretted that despite repeated publication and airing of alarming reports in media about rising contamination of the lake, the government had remained unmoved.

As per rules, he said, over 100 small and big industries in Kotri industrial area as well as leather tanneries established along the banks of Indus were bound to install water treatment plants but majority of them were unlawfully releasing contaminated runoff into the lake through K.B Feeder.

Mr Adil who is also chairman of the Pakistan Relief Foundation said that sewage produced by some 350,000 population of Kotri also made its way into the lake through the feeder.

He warned that without blocking release of contaminated runoff and effluent from Kotri and Nooriabad industrial areas into the lake, the alarming rise in hepatitis A, B and C and other diseases could not be contained.

He said that a recent research on lake water by the Space and Upper Atmosphere Commission found the water contained alarming levels of lead, chromium, urea and toxic metals including arsenic, nickel and selenium, which posed serious threat to human and aquatic life.

He condemned indifferent attitude of the provincial government towards the sensitive issue and said the departments of irrigation, environment and industries had utterly failed to take necessary action to stop release of industrial runoff into the lake.

Mr Adil disclosed that the authorities concerned had installed a wastewater treatment plant in Kotri industrial area at a cost of Rs960 million following court directives but it developed faults within a few hours of functioning.

Besides populations of Karachi and Thatta, residents of about 70 villages and Jamshoro town were consuming the highly contaminated water, he said, adding if the government did not take timely measures to stop pollution of lake water it could lead to an outbreak of a host of waterborne diseases.