Experts warn that most of the country’s water supply will become dangerously toxic unless drastic anti-pollution measures are taken
ISLAMABAD and Kasur- Untreated industrial waste is being discharged into the country’s waterways, creating a potentially devastating future crisis, says a leading institution on environment and sustainable development.
“If this pollution continues unabated for another couple of years or so, it will result in a situation where most of the water sources will be contaminated,” said Ali Tauqeer Sheikh, an environmentalist who heads the Leadership for Environment and Development (LEAD), based in Islamabad.
“The people handling these obsolete chemicals are also facing serious health impacts- we have cases reported already.”
Sheikh added that the situation was already very worrying. “I would say that most of the towns in Pakistan where we found the industries located do suffer from the problem of toxic pollutants. Most of the industries do not have treatment facilities, and discharge the effluents from the processes, untreated, into the environment. So the population of this country is at risk from toxic pollutants.”
One place where such pollution is happening is Kasur- 55 km South of Lahore, the Punjab’s capital- where the toxic waste of leather tanneries is discharged into open space. The accumulated water has taken the shape of a stream, which has poisoned the only source of drinking water in Kasur its ground water. Chemical analysis has shown, that the water is laden with metals like chromium, mercury and lead. The problem has been exacerbated by a water shortage as the rains are yet to arrive. An increasing people in the area have been condemned to drink contaminated water.
“My worry about this water is that it is being infected from different sources- waste from the drains and chemicals from the industry around us,” said Dr Javaid Afzal, a water expert at the LEAD.
“People are eating food that is grown using this water. So, the chemicals have become part of the food chain. We have already started noticing the effects of this contamination as far as human health in the area is concerned. The sorts of problems we are experiencing include cancer, and many different types of poisoning, leading to skin and respiratory diseases,” Afzal added.
“The leather tanneries have made Kasur a “killing field”. 62 per cent of the citizens and 72 per cent of the tanneries workers have contracted one or more diseases like a prolonged cough; lung infection; tuberculosis; eyes infections; irritation and quick loss of eyesight; skin infections and rashes; liver and abdominal diseases; kidney; bladder; urine tract infection; weakness of reflexes and tiredness; strange noises in ears (like the noise of traffic); numbness; and loss of memory. These diseases have claimed 253 lives between January 1998-December 2002. A majority of the diseased were women and children,” said Gul Ahmad, a physician at Kasur Government Hospital.
Kasur’s population is 2,376,000 with 47.7% females. The rural population is 77.1% of the total population. The overall literacy rate of Kasur district is 36.2 %, where rural literacy is 32.2% and the urban is 49.4%. The female literacy rate of 23.4 % is half of the male literacy rate that is 47.6%. There are around 300 tanneries in Kasur.
Community activists are teaching people about the potential dangers of drinking contaminated water. “These are long-term problems which have started becoming obvious. The inhabitants of Kasur understand the dangers, but they carry on using this water as they are too poor to afford water from other sources,” said Malik Afsar, another physician at the Government Hospital.
The Pakistani government with the assistance of United Nation Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the UNDP has launched a US$10 M project for waste management. But the activists say that the volume of waste is much greater than the treatment facilities’ capacity.
According to an official from Punjab Environmental Protection Agency, the Kasur tragedy is in the government’s knowledge. “Kasur Tanneries Pollution Control Project has been launched to combat the pollution created by the tanneries. The project aims to provide primary treatment facilities and an effluent disposal system; evacuation of stagnant pools, control of underground water pollution of the area and improving sanitary conditions in Kasur. The project will treat 13,000 cubic meters daily in full capacity and 9,000 cubic meters on the average.”
It is not only the urban areas that are at risk from the dangers of toxic pollution. In addition to industrial waste, it is also thought that Punjab has thousands of tons of obsolete fertilizers stored in therural areas, which are slowly leaking into the water table.
Experts warn that most of the country’s water supply will become dangerously toxic unless drastic anti-pollution measures are taken 
