Tanneries major factor in environmental degradation

Tanneries, which have mushroomed in and around Sialkot over last decade, are major factor in environmental degradation. At present more than 248 tanneries are functioning of which nine are large, 79 medium and 169 small tanneries, which have been set up without planning and without proper system of waste disposal.
Undoubtedly, the leather goods and leather products industries were representing one of the most important sectors of the national economy but it had created numerous problems not only for human and marine life but affected the sub-soil water adversely. Most of the tanneries are functioning along with Sialkot-Sambrial road, Sialkot-Pasrur road, Sialkot-Daska road and Sialkot-Head Marala road. Leather industry may be an exchange earner but it cannot be denied that it is responsible for great deal of environmental pollution.
According to an estimate 90 million meter leather is annually manufactured while chemical consumption is 65,000 tons for leather processing in tanneries whereas 20 to 25 percent chemicals are used and absorbed but 75 to 80 percent unused are liberated in industrial effluent. Similarly, 40,000 ton toxic chemical are used in tannery industries of the country of which 9,600 tons chemicals are being used and consumed by the tanning sector of Sialkot.
The effluents of these tanneries are being diverted to seasonal nullahs Aik and Bhed, which pass through the city and adjoining areas while tanneries located outside the municipal limits are discharging waste into Palkhu nullah. The pure water of these seasonal nullahs that was used by the villagers for washing, irrigation purposes and meeting other needs have been turned into drains. Another alarming development is that the sub-soil water of Daska, Sambrial and Sialkot tehsils is slowly becoming unfit for human consumption as well as for irrigation purposes and is leading to gradual fall in agricultural production.
It may be mentioned that during the monsoon season the affluent of these tanneries flood vast tracts of agricultural land and damaged the standing crops. The disposal of untreated wastewater into seasonal nullahs, sewerage, watercourses and in agricultural land has destroyed the environment in more than one ways. For instance, cattle, whose milk is being used supplied to the city bathe in these nullahs and drink contaminated water. It has also been noticed that milkmen used polluted water for adulteration purposes. Later polluted milk is supplied in the city markets. Apart from tanneries, various other industrial units have been set up haphazardly in the city, exposing people to all manner of pollution. Smithies are a major source of noise pollution.
Heaps of garbage could be seen everywhere and drains have not been desilted for years. According to medical experts, the pollution will reach dangerous levels during few years if remedial action is not taken on war footing. They revealed that due to the use of contaminated drinking water, the tendency of aliment increasing rapidly and over 70 percent citizen are suffering from liver diseases, 60 percent dysentery and 85 percent stomach diseases in Sialkot, Daska and Sambrial tehsils. They said that drinking water being supplied in Sialkot has become totally unfit for human use because in most of the areas the water pipes and sewerage pipelines are inter linked and discharge of sewages from homes are mixing directly with the underground drinking water.
However, a Cleaner Production Centre (CPC) Sialkot has been set up which is a joint project of Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), Norwegian Agency for Co-operation and Development (Norad) under the management of Pakistan Gloves Manufacturers and Exporters Association (PGMEA).
The objective of the CPC is to control the indiscriminate discharge of potentially harmful solid waste and heavily polluted wastewater and to improve working condition in tanneries with the implementation of in house cleaner production techniques. The CPC project has developed and introduced successfully cleaner production technologies, like established environmental and physical testing laboratory, established info centre for dissemination of technical information, setting up of chrome recovery plant to recover and reuse the chrome etc as a result of which pollution load had been reduced to 30 to 40 percent.
The international trade in leather and leather products has grown dramatically in the past 15-years while the value of global import of leather and leather products had also been increased. However, the conditions governing international trade in leather and leather products undergone notable changes as well as the consumer love to buy goods that are made by the environmental friendly methods.
Keeping in view the growing threats of pollution it is suggested that waste management system may be adopted to dispose off 115 tons solid waste per week of Sialkot city. Industrial and municipal waste may properly be managed and adequate arrangements should be made for regular cleanliness of water reservoirs for avoiding the water borne diseases such as Hepatitis- A, cholera, dysentery, diarrhoea and typhoid etc.
The Punjab government had allocated Rs 90 million for the purchase of land for Sialkot tanneries zone but unfortunately the matter of land acquisition is still in doldrums. The cost of land had increased a lot and now it would not be possible to purchase the land with available funds. The core requirement for Sialkot Tanneries Zone is water treatment plant for which the business community needs financial assistance of Rs 45 million.