KARACHI: While criticising the Sindh Environmental Protec­tion Agency (Sepa) for serving shut-down notices upon industries, the leaders of seven industrial estates have urged Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah to immediately set up the Sindh Environmental Protec­tion Council.

In a recent meeting industry leaders had warned that if shut-down notices issued to industrial units of seven industrial estates by Sepa were not withdrawn, it would ‘cause chaos and render millions of workers jobless’.

They urged the chief minister that first legal requirements under the Environment Protection Act of 2014 should be met, wherein an Environmental Protec­tion Council has to be set up. The council will have representatives from industry and the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

They claimed it was the responsibility of the Environmental Prote­ction Council to frame standards for the protection of environment, but Sepa has framed its own standards and started issuing notices to the industry of the city.

It was noted by the leaders that industrial waste needs treatment before it was thrown into the sea, but for the last 20 years the relevant civic bodies have failed to install treatment plants in any of the seven industrial areas of Karachi.

Published in Dawn, February 21st, 2017