KARACHI: Activists belonging to Thar on Tuesday alleged that the coal project in the desert region had poisoned drinking water.

Speaking at a press conference at the Karachi Press Club, local activists shared the findings of a recent report that raised questions about the claims of the Engro Corporation Ltd — which owns stakes in the coal mining and coal-based power plants — that their operations are not harming the drinking water or the integrity of subsoil and water aquifers in Block II of the Thar coal area.

The activists — Abdul Aziz Halepoto, Abdul Hamid Somro, Lachman Borano, Leela Ram, Sooraj Jaipal, Neehal Mehranpoto and Preetam Mehgawar — raised concerns over the poisoning of drinking water for local communities and said they were now suffering from health complications due to the toxic water not being disposed of properly.

They called on the government to take notice of the report on water quality and take action to save the people of Thar.

Authored by Dr Mark Chernaik of the Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide (ELAW), the report states excessive levels of selenium, arsenic, mercury, chromium and lead is of recent origin and associated with coal activities in the Thar coalfields.

Govt urged to take action on report that linked excessive levels of selenium, arsenic, mercury, chromium and lead with coal mining

The report is based on the tests conducted by the Mehran University of Engineering and Technology’s Soil and Water Pollution Control Laboratory, which is approved by the Sindh Environmental Protect Agency (Sepa).

Eight of the nine locations also show excess of fluoride. Arsenic was also found to be in excess of permissible limits at four out of six locations tested.

Across the six locations, lead levels were found to be more than seven times higher than the standards of the World Health Organisation (WHO) as well as those of Sindh. Mercury levels were found to be 19 to 95 times higher than the WHO and Sindh standards. Selenium levels were found to be six to 20 times higher than the WHO and Sindh standards. Arsenic levels were two times higher than the WHO standards, according to the report.

Lead, mercury, selenium and arsenic are toxic heavy metals that can have significant adverse effects on human health and the environment when present at high levels. Lead exposure can affect the nervous system, causing developmental delays, cognitive impairment and behavioural disorders in children and pregnant women. It can also cause anaemia, kidney damage and reproductive problems.

“Engro has failed in its duty to safeguard the health of the people of Thar while making big profits. Water reports conducted by Engro reveal that its own testing does not check for toxic metals, which is a key metric in testing the safety of water supplies,” according to a statement issued after the press conference.

“This means that any potential mitigation methods used by Engro do not have an understanding of the toxicity of the water caused by the ongoing Thar coal project. Comparing with historical baseline data, it appears that it is Engro’s operations that are responsible for poisoning the water of Thari communities,” it added.

Prior to coal operations, the baseline mercury levels were below detectable levels, while current levels are elevated by up to 94 times in excess in drinking water samples. The report also raised questions about Sepa’s willingness and capacity to monitor Thar coal activities adequately and casted doubt on the adequacy of the approved Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for Thar coal mining and power plants.

Published in Dawn, April 5rd, 2023