ISLAMABAD, Dec 12: The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered the Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency (PEPA) to find out whether the factories in the capital’s industrial sectors conform to the environmental regulations.

A five-member larger bench of the court, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, issued the directive while hearing a petition of Nazir Ahmed and 200 other residents of sectors I-9 and I-10 drawing the court’s attention to the pollution caused by the factories in these sectors.

The bench expressed its displeasure over the negligence of relevant departments and asked the environment ministry to launch an effective campaign with the cooperation of citizens to save water reservoirs and rivers as well as canals of the country from effluents.

The bench gave the environmental protection agency’s director-general Asif Shujah two weeks to report to it whether the industrial units in the two sectors were complying with the provisions of the Pakistan Environmental Protection Act, 1997, or not so that action could be taken against the violators.

The petitioners’ lawyer, Hafiz S.A. Rehman, stated that emissions from the factories, particularly from steel furnaces and marble processing units, were causing life-threatening diseases like asthma, respiratory infections, allergies and heart diseases to the people in the area.

On the request of the Capital Development Authority’s legal adviser Arif Chaudhry the court directed the civic body to approach the law ministry for setting up of an environment tribunal in the federal capital similar to that of other provinces.

When informed that even the existing tribunals were not working for lack of appointments, the apex court directed the federal government to complete appointments of chairmen and two members each of the tribunals in all the four provinces within two weeks.

During the hearing the chief justice also asked the CDA to initiate steps to discourage the tendency of throwing waste in Leh nullah or rain-fed streams and roadside burning of solid waste in different parks or sectors of the capital.

Some 1,500 tons of effluents generated by the pharmaceutical industry, flour mills, oil and ghee mills, marble factories and plastic-using mills are reportedly injected into the Leh nullah every day, heavily polluting the underground water.

Around 500 factories operating in the I-9 and I-10 industrial estates are operating in the area. Of them 204 are manufacturing units like steel furnaces, ghee/oil mills, GI pipes, soap, chemical, plastic, marble, spices and printing, which either lack or have inadequate facilities for treatment of waste emissions.

Expressing concern over the spread of diseases like hepatitis, the chief justice also directed the CDA to set up filtration plants for the provision of clean drinking water to the residents of the capital and encourage the industrial units to install solid/liquid waste treatment plants.

After the hearing, CDA’s Director Regional Planning Tariq Ayub told Dawn that in 1993 the civic body had developed a list of undesirable industrial plants working in the industrial sectors and had encouraged them specially the steel furnaces to change their trade.

Ten industrial units did change their businesses but a majority remained adamant in spite of repeated meetings with the CDA and the Pepa. They continue working without any proper arrangements for the disposal of waste materials or checking emission of pollutants.

In addition to the chief justice the Supreme Court bench hearing the environment issue comprised Justice Javed Iqbal, Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar, Justice Mian Shakirullah Jan and Justice Saiyed Saeed Ashhad.