SIALKOT, June 1: The Sialkot Environment Protection Department (EPD) has issued show-cause notices to more than 164 small and big tanneries in the city, besides sending their cases to the EPD (Headquarters) in Lahore for submission of challans before the environment tribunal.
Official sources in EPD said that notices had been issued in the light of a detailed survey which found most of the tanneries polluting the environmental different water channels, and subsoil water.
Sources said that step had been taken after warnings to the tanners issued by the EPD earlier fell on deaf ears. They said the environmental tribunal had the power to seal the tanneries besides imposing heavy penalties on their owners.
An EPD official based here said that a long term solution to problem was the establishment of a tanneries zone at city outskirts and shifting of all units there. The tanners however reject the proposal since it involves a lot of investment .
The proposal of a tanneries zone was mooted five years ago but authorities could not select a suitable land.
HAZARDS: A local NGO, Baidari, has recently conducted a survey on hazards posed by the use of contaminated water.
The survey revealed that contaminated water heavily loaded with toxic pollutants emitting out of the tanneries set up in the area between Upper Chenab Canal and Marala-Ravi Link (MR Link) near Sambrial was infiltrating into the water table and was not only affecting the soil fertility but also leaving the humans sick.
Baidari’s Arshad Mehmood Mirza and Miss Hina Noureen said the use of polluted water had increased the prevalence of water borne diseases in Sambrial area.
With 264 small and medium sized tanneries in Sialkot city and its out skirts, leather manufacturing has become a major industry in Sialkot which is also known for quality sports goods. Most of the tanneries are located in the thickly-populated areas in Sambrial, Daska, Sialkot-Sambrial-Wazirabad Road, Sialkot-Daska Road and Sialkot-Marla Road.
The tanneries release their untreated waste in seasonal Nullahs, sewage pipes and in open spaces near agriculture land.
Zafarwali village of Sambrial is one of the affected area situated along Nullah Aik. Villagers say water table up to 200 feet has been poisoned because of discharge of waste into the nullah. Since no other water source is available to them, they are forced to consume the contaminated underground water.
Villagers of Zafarwali want immediate installation of a water treatment plant besides the laying of cemented pipes to carry the industrial waste.
Around 350,000 square feet of finished leather is processed per day by tanneries functioning in the city and its outskirts. About four liters of water is used in processing each square foot of finished leather. Hence, according to a rough estimate, local tanneries release 1.1 million liters of waste per day which is pumped into seasonal nullahs such as Aik and Bhed, which pass through the city, while tanneries outside the municipal limits discharge their waste in Palkhu. Those located along the Sialkot-Sambrial Road discharge their effluents in M-Nullah which falls into Aik.
The situation along the Sialkot-Sambrial Road is worse where tanneries release their waste into the open which is not only poisoning the underground water but also affecting the environment. For a visitor the stink is unbearable.
Dear visitor, the comments section is undergoing an overhaul and will return soon.