KARACHI, Dec 12: The Sindh Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) has recently communicated its approval to a firm for setting up a cement factory on Super Highway, some 58km away from Karachi, without the approval of the competent authority, said sources in the agency.

It was learnt that about 12 days back one official of the SEPA issued an NOC for the cement plant spread over an area of 500 acres with a quarry area of 9,000 acres, without seeking permission of the SEPA director-general, which was necessary in line with the environmental protection rules and norms observed by the agency in the past.

According to proponent of the cement factory project, a plant to manufacture about 8,500 tonnes cement per day was to be established in Karachi district, 25km away from Nooriabad, for which the major raw materials limestone and clay were readily available in the mountains adjoining the plants site, while coal both imported and local were to be used as fuel.

According to scientific account of the pollutants, discharge or emission of sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide and other air pollutants or noise from the cement plant were likely to cause adverse environmental effects and as such a serious examination of the project and mitigation measures were required before the plant went operational, said a source.

A public hearing in regard to environmental impact assessment of the project was held on Aug 17, wherein a number of relevant objections were raised by the stakeholders.

Based on the major concerns, the conditions of approval of any project are logically framed to cover the weak areas of the EIA report, which ultimately become an obligation of the proponent.

Major environmental issues discussed during the hearing were about ambient air quality, health, safety and emissions, added the source, saying that major binding on the proponent in terms of conditions sought necessary in the case was compliance to pollutant limits specified in National Environment Quality Standards and report as per the Self Monitoring and Reporting system of the government.

On Oct 21, SEPA Director Iqbal Saeed sent a summary of objections raised in EIA meeting to the proponent for immediate response. A complaint from the participants of the public hearing that operation of the factory had begun before EIS studies or hearing was also included in the agency’s letter.

Among other things, the proponent was pointed out by the SEPA director that the groundwater resources potential needed to be estimated, EIA did not provide detailed description of microenvironment or macro environment, it did not mention of land subsidence resulting from the groundwater mining activity, the gas fired engines which could be major sources of nitrogen oxides emission from the plant was mentioned casually in the report, it does not mention about the continuous supply of the gas, note of sensitive locations within a radius of 10-25 km was not taken.

While the reply from proponent was pending, the SEPA official issued a letter to the cement plant proponent, according SEPA’s approval of the environmental impact assessment of the plant.

When contacted, the DG of SEPA Mohammad Naseer Jamali told Dawn on Monday that the development was not in his knowledge and at no stage he had allowed any body to accord such permission to the cement factory.

A letter of approval signed by anybody, without my approval, is unauthorized and carried no weight as under the rules I am the competent authority on the issue, he added.

However, SEPA Director Iqbal Saeed said he had issued the NOC to plant’s proponent, with at least 10 conditions. I was not wrong in issuing the NOC to the party with my signature and such things happened in past as well, he added and said that he had signed and delivered the letter to the party with the approval of Sindh Environment and Alternative Energy department’s high-ups.