LAHORE: More than 100 members of the People’s Solidarity Forum, the Progressive Labour Federation, the Progressive Students Collective and the Punjab Urban Resource Centre as well as journalists, professors, researchers, doctors and residents of various localities gathered in front of the Environment Protection Department office on Monday. The occasion marked an effort to reclaim the Earth Day, a day signified for activists and people to come together and mobilise for direct action against the polluters. The idea was to raise the issue of factories and other polluters violating environment protection laws by pumping untreated industrial waste into the water table and toxic fumes into the air. The protesters marched towards the EPD office shouting slogans regarding EPD’s alleged complicity in letting virtually all industries get away with polluting air and water bodies with impunity. They also raised the issue about vast quantities of sewage produced in cities, and contaminated wastewater allowed to flow untreated into rivers and canals. Ahsan Bhatti, Progressive Youth Front organiser in Chungi Amar Sadhu, demanded answers to the horrible state of affairs in which, according to various news reports, 40 percent of deaths in Pakistan each year were attributed to unsafe drinking water supplied to the public. Manzoor Khan, a researcher at the Punjab Urban Resource Centre, criticised the government, and said that projects like the Saaf Pani Project could not solve the problem of brackish, polluted water in Lahore’s vicinity as long as factories are allowed to continue pumping wastes into the water table. Meanwhile, members of the Progressive Students Collective also performed a play in front of the EPD office. Maria Arshad, organiser of the play, said the skit was meant to highlight health issues related to sewage and water pollution in various localities of Lahore. “The idea was to present the many ways in which citizens, farmers, commuters and industrial workers were being affected by pollution, and how their plight was made more miserable by the government’s indifference. As part of its campaign, the Progressive Students Collective and Peoples Solidarity Forum ran a Twitter campaign with the hashtag #StopPollutingPakistan and #PunishThePolluters, which has been trending for the last three days. Ammar Jan, a spokesperson for the Peoples Solidarity Forum, said that the EPD was a “toothless” body, devoid of powers to enforce laws with a pitiful budget that was a tiny fraction of the budget for the Punjab Industries, Commerce and Investment Department. The groups involved argued the government must understand that the prevalent model of development was actually leading to a kind of underdevelopment, which had induced immense human suffering, illness and even death in unfathomable numbers. They said that the underdevelopment was actively obscuring the direct and systemic crimes perpetrated against workers working in slave-like conditions in the country. “We find this reality to be absolutely deplorable and unacceptable, and are committed to working together as we seek a way forward for our society that puts human well-being for all, not just for the rich, at the centre of the city’s, province’s and country’s agenda to progress,” they concluded.