Necessary arrangements are being finalised for setting up an ultra modern Tanneries Zone on 384 acres costing Rs 400 million in Sialkot. Official sources told Business Recorder on Monday that the Punjab government has released more than Rs 300 million while the stakeholders have contributed Rs 100 million in this project.
Plots of three categories would be developed in the proposed zone and after the completion of the project, all the existing tanneries functioning in and around Sialkot would be shifted to the zone. The development work on tanneries zone would soon be undertaken.
The step was being taken to tackle with growing pollution threats caused by the functioning of ill-planned tanneries in and around Sialkot, which are not only posing serious threat to human life but degrading the environmental conditions. An effluent water treatment plant would also be installed with the help and assistance of donor agencies in the tanneries zone.
The accomplishment of the project would not only ensure pollution-free environment for the dwellers living in tanneries cluster but also help protect agricultural land, sub-soil water from contamination and save the marine life. Sources said that over 90 million-meter leather is being annually manufactured and annual consumption of chemical is 65,000 tons used for leather processing tanneries in the country.
The tanneries industry is using 40,000 tons of toxic chemicals of which 9600 tons chemicals is consumed at Sialkot tanneries. At present, as many as 248 tanneries of different sizes are functioning in and around Sialkot - nine large, 79 medium and 160 small. The step has been taken to enable the business community to meet the requirement of World Trade Organisation (WTO) regime and fast changing global challenges.
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