HYDERABAD, June 5: The World Environment Day was observed in the city on Monday, with people suffering from all kinds of environmental problems — air, noise and water pollution.

Polluted water, noise pollution, hazardous solid and liquid wastes are the problems, which remain unresolved with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) failing to make its presence felt.

A large number of people in Badin, Sujawal, Tando Mohammad Khan, Kotri and Jamshoro districts are forced to use the water which gets polluted from 25MG sewage the city sewers release into the old and new Phuleli canals apart from the animal excrement the buffalo pens throw into the two canals.

The irrigation authorities seem completely oblivious of the pens and other heavy encroachments on the canals’ banks because they have taken no action against them.

The encroachers too contribute largely to polluting the canals.

The district government is building a sewage treatment plant (abandoned earlier years back) near Isra Hospital to be completed in June, and plans to sell the treated water to farmers to meet the plant’s recurring expenses.

Another treatment plant under construction near Sahrish Nagar would be completed next year to treat Qasimabad’s sewage before discharging it into River Indus.

Barring 30MGD new filter plant and 10MGD old filter plant the residents of some units of Latifabad and Hussainabad, Paretabad and Phuleli get settled water with marginal chlorination treatment. Latifabad and Hussainabad receive water from downstream Kotri.

The district is now planning to increase the capacity of new filter plant to 50MGD and is setting up two filter plants of 8MGD each at Hala Naka and Paretabad water works and another 4MGD filter plant at Ganjo Takkar in a bid to shift its entire system from downstream to upstream of River Indus.

Wasa tests the quality of water under 10 parameters despite the fact that WHO has recommended 31 various parameters as an international standard for water to be fit for human consumption.

Thanks to 2004 water crisis which led to the death of 42 persons in the city from contaminated water, the WASA laboratory at new filter plant is being upgraded.

An EPA study claims that three taluka municipal administrations and Cantonment Board Hyderabad generate 463,500 tons solid waste a year, which comes around 1270 tons waste daily.

Of 463,500 tons of waste, 33,600 tons is lifted annually. Out of 1270 tons waste generated daily, only 920 tons is lifted while 350 tons remains uncollected because of lack of vehicles, budget, proper land filling site and staff.

District Nazim Kanwar Naveed Jamil said that the district would provide union councils around 41 vehicles equipped with hydraulic system for lifting garbage. DCO Mohammad Hussain Syed, too, in a meeting with a World Bank team had sought financial and technical assistance from the bank to help the district manage its waste.