KASUR, May 7: Amid tall claims by the government regarding better healthcare, tanneries fearlessly keep polluting subsoil water reservoirs here in the city. The Tehsil Municipal Administration (TMA) has failed to tackle the situation caused by insanitation and polluted water in urban areas, while in rural areas poor community mobilisation of the Punjab Community Water Supply and Sanitation (PCWSS) has failed to deliver, Dawn has learnt.

Tanneries pollute the subsoil water reservoirs by discharging both organic and inorganic substances harmful for human, animal and aquatic health. Kasur is home to 350 tanneries that discharge fatal elements, including arsenic and chromium, as a result of which underground water reservoirs have been contaminated to an alarming proportion.

The United Nations Industrial Development Organisation along with the Punjab government installed a water treatment plant one decade ago. The plant failed to treat the water properly due to alleged carelessness of the district administration and reluctance of tannery owners to share funds to run the plant. Now, untreated water is being pumped into the Sutlej River affecting the aquatic life on a massive scale.

The untreated water is used for irrigation, contaminating food grains and vegetables hence unfit for human consumption.

Diseases like cancer, renal failure, dermatitis, hepatitis, asthma and gastric are on the rife among the people in the district. Among animals, mostly buffalos have developed tumor by consuming polluted water, while donkeys suffer from eye infection and dogs from eczema. Donkeys are used to transport hides while dogs become sufferer when they eat leftovers of hides.

According to an Atlantis report launched in 2007, about 30 per cent of cancer patients in various hospitals of Lahore are from Kasur.

Even though, some tannery owners shifted their units from Din Gur and Niaz Nagar to Bhallo village along Ferozepur Road two years ago without obtaining any no-objection certificate from the Environment Protection Department, the measure resulted in polluting another underground water belt. With the arrival of the tanneries, the number of patients suffering from hepatitis and cancer has increased in Vadana, Lakhakey, Khara and other adjoining villages of Bhallo.

A few patients, including Hashim Ali, Fateh Muhammad and Abdul Malik, demanded the district administration install a water treatment plant in the village or remove tanneries from the village premises in the interest of the people.

The PCWSS that receives billions from the Asian Development Bank has too failed to improve the situation due to the lack of community mobilisation. Residential areas, including Laknekey, Khara, Greenkot, Ratnewala and 11 other areas could not get clean drinking water despite spending billions of rupees in a joint venture by the Public Health Engineering Department and the PCWSS. These schemes failed because of substandard drainage pipelines, contract system and lesser community involvement in the projects.

About one year ago, the residents of Ratnewala protested against a scheme contractor under the PCWSS for using substandard material, including pipelines and the case was referred to Ganda Singh police station but the influential contractor managed it some how or the other.

The TMA Kasur has also failed to provide any relief to the people from the tanneries.

The government was to install water filtration plants in 55 union councils in 2006-07. Of the 55 union councils, only five got the plants but those have lying non-functional for the last one-and-a-half year.

Tehsil Nazim Agha Naveed Hashim Rizvi allocated about Rs50 millions for citizen community boards (CCBs), but not even a single project was approved for the provision of clean drinking water. The district government allocated Rs500 millions reserved for CCBs but not a single scheme was initiated for safe and clean drinking water.

At a few points in the city, the tehsil government with the collaboration of World Bank has started the work on the replacement of underground rusty pipelines.

To add insult to injuries, the tehsil administration has installed six giant billboards in the city bearing ‘Salute to Kasur Tehsil Nazim for the provision of clean drinking water’. Apparently, these boards bear the names of two naib nazims as installers, but Nasir Mahmood Khan, a local PML-N leader, the tehsil nazim allegedly forced five TMA employs and one contractor to bear the heavy expenses of the billboards.

Smelling the alarming situation, UNICEF also launched a scheme to install hand pumps in different localities some two years ago, where clean drinking water was not available. It too failed to be implemented in its true spirit due to the installation of plants at improper places under political influence.

Jabbar Ahmed, whose only son died from water-borne disease two months ago, told Dawn the lack of potable water was taking a greater toll on human lives than terrorism in the country. Javed Ahmed, whose father is cancer patient, said political leaders and public officials were doing nothing to save three millions people in the district.

Tehsil Nazim Agha Naveed Hashim Rizvi said that the installation of water filter plants was the project of the government and the TMA had nothing to do with it. He added CCBs did not take interest in water related programmes as the World Bank and other donors were working on the issue.

Regarding billboards, he said these were gifted by naib nazims Imran Zaib and Faiz Majeed, who also confirmed the tehsil nazim’s stance.