THE Sindh Industrial Trading Estate in Sukkur makes the city a major industrial destination in Pakistan. However, questionable activities of factories make the air toxic, contaminate the water, render the land infertile, and cause serious health problems to local residents.

Villages are known for their clean environment, but our village and nearby localities bear the brunt of environmental degradation, thanks to the negligence of factory-owners and regulatory authorities. The factories emit hazardous smoke from chimneys, which worsens the air quality. They also release poisonous wastewater in a large ditch which mixes with ground-water and contaminates it. This polluted water affects land fertility.

The environmentally unfriendly activities of factories have made the lives of people increasingly difficult. The reports of respiratory and lung diseases have multiplied. Standing water serves as a breeding ground for mosquitoes, which, in turn, leads to a rise in malaria and dengue cases.

A number of complaints have been filed with the regulatory authorities, but no action has been taken against the factories thus far. In the past, the factories were forced to install emission filters, but they have now been violating such regulations with impunity because the authorities do not take any strict action against these violations.

The Sindh Environmental Protection Agency (Sepa) and the Sukkur Develop-ment Authority (SDA) should conduct a thorough inspection, enforce the instal-lation of pollution control technologies, limit emissions of smoke during peak hours, and make alternative arrangements for the discharge of toxic wastewater.

Abdul Mouiz
Sukkur

Published in Dawn, December 29th, 2025