Tanneries in Sialkot responsible for pollution

Tanneries in Sialkot are creating environmental pollution that poses serious threat to human life. At present there are more than 248 tanneries functioning in Sialkot, which were set up without planning and proper system of waste disposal. Undoubtedly, the leather industry is one of the most important industries but it had created numerous problems not only for human life but also marine life.
It has also affected 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. The leather industry may be an foreign exchange earner but it cannot be denied that it is responsible for environmental pollution to a large extent.
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. 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 damage standing crops. The disposal of untreated wastewater into seasonal nullahs, sewerage, watercourses and in agricultural land has destroyed the environment. For instance, milch cattle, whose milk is used, drink contaminated water. It has also been noticed that milkmen use polluted water in milk and then supply in the city markets. Apart from tanneries various other industrial units have been set up in the city. Smithies are a major source of noise pollution.
Heaps of garbage could be seen everywhere. According to medical experts, pollution will reach dangerous levels in a few years time if action is not taken immediately. They revelled that due to the use of contaminated drinking water the tendency of aliment of increasing rapidly and over 70 percent citizen are suffering from stomach and liver diseases, 60 percent dysentery and 85 stomach diseases in Sialkot, Daska and Sambrial tehsils. They said that drinking water being supplied in Sialkot had become totally unfit for human consumption because in most of the areas water pipes and sewerage pipelines interlinked 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 TDAP, 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 indiscriminate discharge of harmful solid waste and heavily polluted wastewater and to improve working condition in tanneries with the implementation of in house cleaner production techniques.