Sindh Minister for Environment and Alternative Energy, Shaikh Muhammad Afzal has warned industrialists to allow inspectors of Environment Protection Agencies (EPA) to visit units and collect effluent otherwise there cases will be referred to tribunal for further action.
Addressing members of Site Association of Industry (SAI) Tuesday, he said industrialists are not allowing inspectors to visit their units and collect samples of effluent, as well as they warned inspectors of dire consequences.
The minister said that there is no way out but to comply with the directives of Supreme Court and make efforts to implement the environment protection law. He said in the law, there is a condition that every unit must have an effluent treatment plan. The law is silent on installing combined effluent treatment plant, he added.
He said Site industrial area was developed before the enactment of environment protection law and industrial plots are too small to have effluent treatment plan. He advised all those industrialists, who have enough space, to establish effluent treatment plant. He said the government is making efforts to resolve the issue of effluent treatment plants and apprise Supreme Court about the problem.
Afzal informed that government has approved installing of four combined effluent treatment plants and hoped that work on these would be initiated soon. Government is not interested to close down industries on the issue of violating environment protection law as this will created unemployment and other problems.
He suggested that a committee, comprising of representatives of environment department, Site association and EPA, should be formed to sort out issues and formulate strategy to comply with the law.
Speaking on the occasion, Advisor to Sindh Chief Minister on investment, Zubair Motiwala said around 700 units in Site industrial area alone have gone out of production due to high cost of manufacturing, law and order conditions and other factors. He feared that more units would have to seize production due to the prevailing economic and other conditions. He pointed out that industrial plots in Site industrial area are too small and they can not have space to construct effluent treatment plant.
Chairman SAI, Salim Parekh emphasised the need of apprising supreme court that individual effluent treatment plants cannot be established in each and every industrial unit generating effluent, as they do no have enough space for the purpose.