Daily Times

KARACHI: Industrialists have called for setting up five combined effluent treatment plants; each at five industrial zones besides the earliest completion of the mega combined effluent treatment plant S-3.

The estimated cost of S-3 project is Rs 13 billion. Sindh and Federal governments would bear the financial burden equally. This much needed project was pending for want of funds, regretted prominent industrialists and exporters of the city.

Former SITE Association of Industry chairman Muhammad Javed Bilwani and former Korangi Association of Trade and Industry president and former FPCCI vice president Gulzar Feroz expressed serious concern on behalf of the industrial community that the lack of the effluent plants was hampering industrial activity along with creating civic issues and damaging marine life.

Bilwani said that it was very difficult for industries to set up effluent treatment plants individually as most of them did not have space within the premises. Highlighting the benefits of a combined effluent treatment plant, he said that surplus chemicals at industries would be treated for further use. Hence, used water even sewerage water could be re-cycled and made it re-usable for industrial activity and other purpose.

In the support of his argument, he referred to gutter Baghicha project. He said industrialists had been asking the city and Sindh governments to catch hold of solid and liquid waste of the city before its flow into sea. He said with completion of S-3 project, industries would benefit a lot. It would also help in compliance of GSP-plus conditions.

Gulzar Feroz, who had done lots of work on industrial pollution, emphasized on setting up one combined effluent treatment plant each for five industrial estates. He said that international agencies like Global Environment Fund, UNIDO, USAID were ready to finance effluent treatment plants. “These institutions were ready to finance if we come up with viable treatment projects,” he asserted.

He said that he had offered his services to the government as a member of the committee for executing the treatment plants in time. He said that the city had become a garbage dumping site. The garbage seemed littered on almost every street and roads of the city, he added. The commission formulated by the Supreme Court to see water issues in the city on Tuesday expressed its concern over the reports of flowing industrial liquid waste into Malir river and ordered enquiry by a session judge. Drinking water was being supplied to certain areas of the city from this river.

Karachi Water and Sewerage Board Managing Director Misbahuddin submitted to the judicial commission that chemicals were draining into Malir river from textile units. The commission had heard the representatives of industrial associations of the city on Monday and Tuesday and sought solution to this serious issue of water pollution including marine resources along the city coast.

The federal government through Ports and Shipping Ministry had already taken initiative to check the flow of huge amount of liquid and solid waste daily from the city into sea. Hence, Federal and Sindh governments would launch their joint efforts to address this serious issue.