KASUR, May 14: An International Labour Organisation report on pollution in Kasur reveals bleak prospects for the people living in this neck of the woods.

The recently-published report says the Leather Tanneries, heavily polluted water and other forms of pollution in the district are the root causes of a variety of fatal diseases of chest, diarrhoea, hepatitis and other ENT diseases.

“The workers at tanneries are suffering from itch, skin diseases and other epidemic threats,” says the report, which also discloses that most of the children working at tanneries belong to the poor families and less than 14 years of age.

The sanitary conditions in Kasur, adds the report, is taking a toll on the bodies and minds of the city inhabitants. Heaps of garbage and mixing of human waste with the potable water in the pipes are also plaguing the common man. This situation has brought Kasur in the close vicinity of the dirtiest cities in South Asia.

Around 78 per cent of population of the district is in the grip of water- and air-borne diseases, according to the ILO report.

strangled: A man strangulated his rival and later crushed his body by running over a tractor to show his accidental death, it is learnt on Sunday.

The police have, however, registered a case against the killer after appearance of autopsy report.

According to reports, Ilyas and Razzaq who were at dagger’s drawn with Muhammad Sadiq over a land dispute and many cases were being heard by courts.

They took the victim to Teh Shakhum village and strangulated him and later run over a tractor on his body. A DHQ hospital medical officer, in collusion with the suspects, issued a report confirming accidental death.

The police investigators, however, smelt a rat when they saw marks of violence on the victim’s neck. They asked the medical officer to conduct autopsy of the victim but the official refused to do so and insisted that it was an accidental death.

The police sought court orders for autopsy which revealed that it was a murder.