KARACHI, May 9: The Adviser to Chief Minister on Environment, Muhammad Noman Saigol, has urged all factories in the province to immediately implement environmental laws. In a statement on Tuesday, he also asked for the environmental audit of factories.

He said legal action was being taken against factories that disposed of poisonous waste without taking necessary safety measures.

He said that after receipt of reports of three different factories, these would be sealed and a fine of Rs3 million would be imposed on them for not implementing environmental laws.

He said the owners of these factories would be arrested and compensation recovered for the children who died and were injured due to the dumping of poisonous waste in the open.

According to the statement, Mr Saigol said this while talking to people in SITE after offering fateha at the home of a deceased child, Iftikhar, who lost his life due to exposure to the industrial waste.

Later, he visited another youngster, Naveed, who had sustained injuries in the incident.

Saigol also visited the area where the poisonous industrial waste was dumped causing death and injuries to children and others.

The statement said that on the directive of the adviser, the owner of the chemical factory identified as Farooq Gharib was arrested.

It said that Saigol also visited the burns wards of the JPMC and Civil hospitals and inquired about the welfare of the injured children admitted there.

The adviser also pointed out that the governor of Sindh had also instructed that those involved in the incident should not be spared, the statement said.

—APP