Karachi: According to relevant rules and regulations, all industrial units must have a waste treatment plant, said Water Commission (WC) Chief Justice (r) Amir Hani Muslim while speaking as a chief guest in the first session of a seminar on ‘Industrial Wastewater Management’ on Saturday. Justice (r) Amir said that all industries were obligated to treat effluent at industrial units before discharging it. He said that before the formation of judicial water commission there was no treatment plant installed in any of the approximately four thousand industrial units in the province and up to 450MGD untreated water was being drained into the sea directly. “It was the Judicial Water Commission that compelled the provincial and federal authorities to install treatment plants,” he added. He said that currently a treatment plant was being used to treat 7–80MGDs of effluent. Justice (r) Amir Hani Muslim said that Karachi Port Trust had also committed to install a treatment plant with a capacity to treat 100MGD water. “Furthermore, another plant in a span of two years time will start operating,” he mentioned. The judge said that mismanagement was one of the prevailing major causes of the water crises in Sindh. He said that approximately 4,000 industrial units were operating without effluent wastewater treatment plants in the province. The WC chair said that all the industrial unites had been directed to install treatment plants at their units without further delay. Justice Hani Muslim said that industrial units had to be made accountable with the purpose of controlling untreated wastewater effluent in the province. He said that industrial pollution was hazardous for the people of the province and also for the marine life. He said that the water crises of the province would be resolved at the earliest and the commission had tried its level best to put all the efforts jointly to resolve the issue. He further said that effective work should be done for solid waste management was also one of the causes of water pollution. Addressing the gathering, USAID Acting Mission Director for Sindh and Balochistan Mark Sorensen said that USAID always supported research and academic activities aimed at finding solution for water, energy and agriculture related problems in Pakistan. He hoped that the seminar would pave the way for the networking, collaborative efforts and teamwork to improve the management of wastewater treatment in the province. He further said that USAID funded MUET Water Center was committed to produce quality graduates who would ultimately work towards the resolution of of the country’s water crisis. MUET vice chancellor Dr Mohammad Aslam Uqaili said that four year ago USPCASW was established with the generous support of USAID and the Center was producing the water experts based on the latest curricula, state-of-the- art laboratory facilities to resolve the water issues of the country. He said that no problem could be resolved without quality graduates and reliable and tested data. He informed that out that 35 sugar mills in the province were operating without any treatment plants and that led to various water and environment issues. USPCAS-W project directors Bakshlal Lashari from MUET and Steven Burain from University Utah also spoke in the first technical session regarding the research efforts are being made by the Center. Sindh Minister for Climate Change, Nawabzada Muhammad Taimor Talpur while speaking as chief guest in the second session, said that water was a very precious commodity but it was diminishing day by day. He said that before water commission the SEPA was working without any guided direction but now due to efforts of Justice Amir Hani Muslim, the agency had support. He said that the educated people should come forward and help resolve the problems faced by the public. The seminar was organised by US-Pakistan Centers for Advanced Studies in Water (USPCAS-W), Mehran University of Engineering & Technology (MUET) in collaboration with University of Utah, USA supported by US Agency for International Development (USAID). Published in Daily Times, December 16th 2018.