Karachi receiving contaminated water: Sepa to take action against Kotri industries for polluting KB Feeder

The Sindh Environmental Protection Agency (Sepa) is going to take strict action against different industries of Kotri Industrial Area for disposing poisonous wastewater into the KB Feeder, Business Recorder learnt on Friday.
According to sources in environmental watchdog, the decision was taken two days back after the Environmental Tribunal had directed the agency to take stern action against the industries in Kotri which are polluting the environment, particularly by disposing poisonous water into the KB Feeder.
The KB Feeder is meant for supplying potable water for millions of residents of Karachi city and disposal of industrial wastewater into it can play havoc with the citizens consuming the water, they added. The local residents of nearby areas of Kotri industries had complained that the industries were discharging poisonous water into the KB Feeder due to which the local people were suffering from various serious diseases such as gastro-enteritis, etc.
The environmental experts of the Sepa had visited the site and found release of industrial waste into the Feeder that could create serious problems in the coming times. The samples of poisonous wastewater were also collected by the environmental inspectors, which were tested at Sepa laboratories finding poisonous particles including nitrogen oxide (NOx) in them, they said.
Sources said that the environmental agency had issued the Environmental Protection Orders (EPOs) to the industries violating environmental laws. However, the influential industrialists paid no heed to the government's warning and kept on doing so.
Later, the EPA authorities referred the case along with all proof including the laboratory examination reports to the Environment Tribunal headed by a Judge that instructed the agency to take strict action against the violating industries or even seal them in the larger interest of common man to ensure precious human lives, the sources further said.
They said that EPA had recently forwarded a letter to the secretaries of labour and industries and commerce departments of the Sindh government to assist the environmental inspectors in taking to task the industries violating Pakistan Environmental Protection Act, 1997.
The EPA was also taking action against the environment violating industries of Sindh Industrial Trading Estates (SITE) Limited, Port Qasim Industrial Area, Landhi Industrial Area, New Karachi Industrial Area, Federal B Industrial Area and Korangi Industrial Area, they added.