Haripur district, once known as food basket of the province, is exposed to umpteen environmental hazards, as industrialists of Hattar Industrial Estate (HIE) seem least motivated about compliance of the National Environmental Quality Standards.

Being ill-equipped the KP’s Environmental Protection Agency articulates more loudly the non-serious attitude of the PTI government to fulfil its global commitments on environment by making desired achievements towards realising ‘environmentally sound management of chemicals and to combat climate change’.

The vulnerability of residents of localities situated in the neighbourhood and within 15km radius of gigantic HIE to different diseases has increased due to unchecked flushing of untreated chemical-laden liquid and solid waste in open nullahs, emitting hazardous particulate matter and dust by the defiant owners and manufacturers of steel, cement, ghee, poultry, food, plywood and paper industries and grinding mills.

The fertility of agricultural land getting irrigated from the nullahs carrying industrial effluent is also badly affected.

Though no official data is available with the health or environment department, the growing complaints from the residents of Hattar, Shadi, Rani Wah, Pind Gujran, Chach, Gulu Bandi, Kot Najibullah, Dingi, Motiyan, Tareenabad, Palhar Kawan, Palhar Jogi and several other villages near HIE suggest that respiratory, ear, nose, eye, brain, skin and stomach diseases are on the rise in these areas.

“The lifestyle in our areas has changed completely as majority of the residents of villages near the Naur, Chahari and Dotal nullahs (water channels) are suffering from kidney, skin and respiratory diseases due to odour and drinking contaminated water from the dug wells,” said Masoodur Rehman advocate, chairman public safety commission and resident of Dingi village.

He claimed that young people, affected by air and water pollution, were dying after contracting serious diseases in the villages around HIE. He said that a few years ago he moved a complaint with the office of Federal Ombudsman winning direction to then Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief secretary for making the industrialist bound to establish a proper treatment plant for the liquid discharging industries but the matter fell prey to red tape. He said that the previous government had prepared a plan for installation of combined treatment plant for HIE, but it could not materialise as the industrialists were not willing to pay the plant’s monthly operational charges of around Rs1 million.

Omar Farooq, a resident of Hattar village, said that pollution had made life miserable for the residents of Hattar. He said that he lost his brother and a cousin to renal disease during the last two years and believed that it was due to industrial pollution. He said that lung, kidney and skin diseases were common in Hattar and nearby villages, which had three cement industries situated in close proximity. He said that the people of Hattar had given their precious fertile land for the national cause, but in return they were gifted with polluted air and water.

A PhD thesis by Dr Azizullah Sayal of Comsats Institute of Information Technology, Abbottabad, shows that 350 drinking water samples gathered from two villages of Dingi and Motiyan – which were situated on the sides of wastewater channels that carry industrial waste from HIE – were found carrying lead and nickel above the WHO guideline values. The study conducted during September 2017 was titled “Impact of drinking water contamination caused by Hattar Industrial Estate on health and household utility”.

It says that the associated diseases in both selected villages were found to be high blood pressure, lipomeningocele, renal disease, black gums and skin and joint pains. The statistical relationship between the contaminants and diseases was positive.

The study by Dr Sayal says that the welfare loss to the community due to industrial water contamination was calculated at Rs5.8 million per annum for Dingi and Rs0.2 million for Motian. This welfare quantification, if extrapolated to other villages situated on the wastewater channel, can result in high monetary loss to the community. This is in addition to the physical and psychological sufferings associated with diseases.

The results suggest that apart from environmental pollution, the economic and behavioural factors also contribute to the prevalence of diseases. Therefore, policy initiatives should be focused on specific issues such as decisions on the location of industrial estates; inclusion of environmental awareness in the formal education and adoption of mitigation measures to save the communities from harmful effects of pollution.

Commenting on legal remedies to combat industrial pollution, advocate Masood claimed that Pak-EPA and KP-EPA laws were toothless and could be used against only those units that were built after 1997 only. He expressed dissatisfaction over the performance of KP-EPA, adding that it had failed to provide the relief to the desired level and as a result the industrialists were playing havoc with ecology of the area.

He said that another complaint was lodged with the provincial ombudsman by him, Barrister Hasan Niazi and Samavia Sajjad advocate, seeking protection for the residents of affected villages against industrial pollution and remedial measures.

When approached for comments, Hattar Industrialists Association chairman Malik Ashiq Awan said that every industrialist was now aware of his responsibilities of controlling industrial pollution and majority of these units, including cement plants, steel furnaces and paper mills, had installed the internal control system.

About industrial pollution, KP- EPA North director Mohammad Ali Khan said that his department started work in Hattar area from July 2017 under a project of provincial government and till December 2018 his staff had monitored 203 industrial units while 96 were penalised under section 11 and 13 of the KP Environmental Protection Act 2014. He said that 60 per cent of the prosecuted units included poultry protein, paper, steel, cement, chemical, food, grinding, packing and plywood manufacturing units that were found violating NEQS while 40 per cent were those who did not obtain NOC which was mandatory for those units set up after 1997. He said that a total of 38 units had paid a fine of Rs10 million on the order of Environment Protection Tribunal.

Mr Khan confirmed that the steel, paper, poultry protein and grinding mills were the major culprits whose waste and emissions had been causing damage to the environment. However, he said that 90 per cent of those industrial units which were prosecuted in the recent past had installed their emission control system.

Answering a question, he said that there was only one water quality testing laboratory in the province whereas Ambient Air Quality Testing system was missing which was required for general air testing. He said that staff shortage was another problem that hampered the EPA efforts to ensure compliance of laws by industrialists.

Published in Dawn, February 17th, 2019