HYDERABAD, Oct 12: The Sindh High Court, Hyderabad circuit bench, on Saturday directed the director general, Environmental Protection Agency, to prosecute the industrialists who were violating the Pakistan Environmental Protection Act 1997 by discharging effluents in the Kalri Baghar Feeder Canal.

The bench, comprising Justice Mohammad Roshan Essani and Justice Amir Hani Muslim, also directed the Sindh government to ensure that the public functionaries referred to herein comply with the order so as to save the lives of the inhabitants of the town and its suburbs who were using contaminated water.

The court passed a detailed order while hearing a petition of Nazim union council Kotri, Allah Bachayo Soomro.

The chief engineer, Site, Kotri, and the administrative in charge, EPA, Sindh, attended the court in response to its notice along with the additional advocate general, Sindh, Masood A. Noorani.

Mr Soomro had in fact sent a letter to the court which the court converted into a public interest petition, seeking directives from the court to restrain industries from discharging effluent/toxic water in the KB Feeder Canal.

The chief engineer, Site, filed his comments, stating that effluents from industries in Kotri were collected and carried through open lined/unlined drains to natural storm water drains and water courses. Later, the effluents drained into agricultural lands and KB Feeder Canal which irrigates a vast area of land and supplies potable water to Karachi without it being chemically or biologically treated.

As a result of this, the river water flowing through the KB Feeder gets highly polluted and is hazardous not only for humans but also for crops.

He proposed that the immediate object was to establish a treatment plant in order to treat effluents before they were discharged into the KB Feeder.

Expressing concern over inaction on the part of Site, spread over an area of 1,875 acres, the court said before establishing an industrial area Site should have proposed a scheme for discharging effluents.

It regretted that instead they chose to sleep over the issue by draining waste/toxic water of the industries towards the agricultural lands of private persons and in the KB Feeder Canal.

The court said that although the discharge of effluents was taken note of by Site and other relevant quarters but no effective measures were taken either by the director general, EPA, Sindh, aggravating the agony of the people.

The bench noted that under clause 10 of the lease agreement issued by Site, no industry is allowed to discharge poisonous or objectionable effluents into drains or sewers.

The chief engineer, Site, failed to give a logical explanation as to why Site never issued a single show-cause notice under this clause to any of the industries which were working in violation of the lease’s terms.

He only said that such a notice may lead to economic problems. “It is the prime duty of the government to tackle issues of such nature on top priority basis as they pertain to the health of human beings.

Uninterrupted discharge of effluents in the KB Feeder has made the life of all inhabitants and agriculturists miserable.

It is high time that Site should seek enforcement of the terms of lease and take further penal action against those who were violating the terms of lease to safeguard inhabitants’ lives,” the SHC ordered.