SANGHAR, Sept 13: Cotton ginning factories operating in the district have been warned of action if they do not instal filter plants within 15 days. The warning to the factories was given at a meeting held at the district council hall on Monday.

District Naib Nazim Dr Mohammad Ahmad Rajput presided over the meeting that was attended by the EDO, health, deputy director, Environmental Project Agency, deputy director, agriculture, union council nazims and representatives of cotton ginners.

The EDO, health, Dr Syed Iqbal Shah, told the meeting that asthma cases witnessed a rise during cotton ginning season. He said majority of the patients suffered from cotton dust allergies. He said people of Shahdadpur and Tando Adam were the worst affected.

Sibghatullah Shah Union Council Nazim Qasim Faqir Mahar said recently a man in his council died due to cotton dust allergy. He said there were three cotton ginning factories in his area but none of them had installed dust filtration plants.

EPA deputy director Dr Mashood Ahmad said the agency had approved a filter plant called worm system for cotton ginning factories to control dust. He said cotton dust was more dangerous than pollen grains because cotton dust contained poisons like pyrothrides, endosulphar and many others that could cause cancer.

He said the agency would issue an environment protection order against factories not following EPA rules. There are 64 factories in the district, 40 of them in the main town.

Ginning factories' representative Mian Asif said there was a need for making filter plants locally because an imported filter plant called cyclone cost more than $100,000. He added that a complete ginning factory could be built at the same cost. He further said the most common method used in dust filter plants was showering water but it created waste water disposal problems.