Waste from more than 250 factories at the Sundar Industrial Estate, ranging from pharmaceuticals to dyeing units and food manufacturers, is being dumped illegally and incinerated in the open, causing damage to nearby residents and the environment.
Two months ago, Nisar Spinning Factory, situated opposite the dumping site, registered a complaint with the Environment Protection Department, an official said. Some 500 workers reside in a small colony at the spinning mill’s premises, said Akhtar, a factory worker.
The smoke from the waste is causing respiratory problems among residents, he said. “We cannot breathe or work freely. This has been going on for a while and no government department is willing to put an end to it despite our complaints,” he said.
The National Engineering Services of Pakistan conducted a feasibility study to build a landfill on two acres at Sundar Industrial Estate in 2008. The Punjab government allocated funds for the project and that same year, excavation for the site began. Digging was done up to 20 feet and the site was being lined with a geomembrane when the administration was changed and the project was shelved.
Almost five years later, more than 1,000 kg of solid waste from the factories at the estate is dumped at an open spot some two kilometres away on Raiwind Road opposite the spinning mills and set on fire, said the EPD official.
More than 70 units at the SIE are pharmaceutical manufacturers. Other units are for dyeing, weaving, paint and embroidery, for flour, chips, candy and soft drinks, and for mechanical parts for buses, cars and motorbikes. Their waste includes chemicals, lubricants, soap, kitchen organic waste, waste paper and board.
Meanwhile, the unfinished landfill site is now a cesspool of industrial wastewater and rainwater, giving off a foul stench and offering a rich environment for mosquito breeding.
An EPD official said that there was a simple reason that the SIE did not use the landfill site: money. “They would need to line the site with clay and then compact the waste daily. That would require labour. Why pay for that when you can dump for free?”
Athar Habib, the manager at the Sundar Industrial Estate, said that it was not the SIE administration’s responsibility to finish the landfill site. Then he added: “I have been here only a year and I do not know that such a problem exists. And if it does, then it is the job of the Punjab Industrial Estate to have the work done here. Our job is only to ensure security. I know nothing of the landfill site.” Saadia Salman, the environment official at the Punjab Industrial Estate, which controls all industrial estates across the province, said that a meeting regarding the completion of the landfill site had been held on February 4. She did not elaborate why it had taken almost five years for this to be brought up, or what the prospects for its completion were. She said that most industrial estates hired private contractors to dispose of the waste.
The EPD secretary was unavailable for comment.
Cases are already pending against more than 100 units at the SIE for violating Section 12 of the Pakistan Environment Protection Act (now the Punjab Environment Protection Act) for constructing a unit without obtaining a no-objection certificate from the EPD. Factories must submit an environment management plan to the EPD in order to obtain the certificate.
Cases are also pending against all units of the SIE for non-compliance with Section 12 of the PEPA, which makes it compulsory for units to install wastewater treatment equipment and electrostatic precipitators for cleaning air emissions.
Cases are also pending against units at the city’s largest industrial estate, the Quaid-i-Azam Industrial Estate, which has 377 factories. Two smaller industrial estates, one next to the SIE and another in Kot Lakhpat, have about 50 factories in total. Private contractors collect their solid waste daily.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 21st, 2013.