PESHAWAR, Aug 5: NWFP Chief Minister Akram Durrani has taken notice of ‘serious’ health hazards due to processing of gold in acid in the congested Andersher area of Peshawar.

Acting on written application moved by the area residents, the chief minister directed the district coordinating officer Peshawar to visit the area and submit a report on the issue forthwith, said Muhammad Ali Safi, Nazim of Union Council Andersher, while talking to APP here on Saturday.

Subsequently, an assistant coordinating officer was sent to the area to inspect the various gold processing units, said the nazim, adding that he also accompanied the officer.

He said the residents were facing health-related problems due to the smoke emitted from the gold processing units. They had long been complaining about the problem, he added.

“A pal of smoke envelopes the congested and densely-populated Sarafa bazaar and its adjoining Andersher during the working hours,” he said, adding: “The atmosphere here has become polluted with chemicals to such an extent that even the washing hung out of the houses for drying becomes yellowish.”

The students of two primary schools located in the area also faced difficulties due to the smoke, he informed.

Safi said most of the gold refiners and polishers had developed serious chest problems like acute asthma and tuberculosis.

“The refining and polishing of gold is done by treating it with nitric and sulfuric acids in the furnace. During the process, metals burn and emit smoke that spreads in the market which is already congested due to large number of shops operating there,” he explained.

The nazim demanded of the government to shift the refiners and polishers somewhere outside the city so that the residents of Andersher could be saved from the ‘serious’ health hazards.

RELIEF CAMPS: Four relief camps have been established in vulnerable areas of the NWFP for victims of heavy rains.