LAHORE, July 12: Residents of four villages of Kahoon Valley (Kallar Kahar) are at loggerheads with the owners of a cement factory due to alleged negligence of the Punjab Environment Protection Department.

It is learnt that a known business group has installed poles and erected fences for a cement factory around the proposed site on the main Choa Saidan Shah-Kallar Kahar Road without obtaining an NoC from the EPD.

Delailpur, Khairpur, Khokhar Bala and Meghal will be directly exposed to environmental degradation after the establishment of the factory. The residents of these villages have already held demonstrations to mark their protest, but to no avail.

They are of the view that excavation and transportation of clay will pollute the entire area. They allege that the factory owners, in connivance with the revenue department officials, have forced them to sell their agricultural land to them.

Raja Waseem, the head of a 40-member committee (of residents) constituted to take up the matter, had filed a complaint with the EPD asking it to stop the establishment of the factory. He claimed that other villages like Badshahpur, Dalwal, Arar, Dari Saidan, Tatral, Wahoola and Dulrian would also face trouble.

"A 30-day notice has been issued to the department for taking legal action against the factory owners," Mr Waseem said, adding the committee would file a case against the department and the factory owners with the Environment Protection Tribunal on the expiry of the notice.

According to rules, a study is to be conducted by the factory through a private consultancy to assess the environmental impact and it should be submitted to the department before the grant of a licence. However, there is a clear-cut violation of the rules.

Under the Pakistan Environment Protection Act 1997, the EPD (an executing agency) takes into account environmental and related social implications of a development project of any size before irrevocable decisions are made.

Besides, the EPD provides alternatives to carry out a project in case of adverse effects on environment. The department usually does not bother to carry out the EIA of any project on its own or assess the EIA filed by a company.

The city's four recently constructed underpasses are a case in point. Environment lawyers had filed cases against the department, which are pending with the EPT.

An EPD official told Dawn that the department had asked the Chakwal DCO to look into the matter and submit a report at the earliest. However, he admitted that the factory owner did not even apply for the issuance of the NoC. He hoped the matter would be resolved by the EPT.

EPD secretary Sheikh Iqbal was not available for comments. On the other hand, Federal Archaeology Department Director Saleemul Haq said the factory's pollution would damage the Malot Temples, which are about four kilometres away from the proposed site of the plant.

He said the EPD should also consider this fact before carrying out the EIA of the project.