ISLAMABAD, May 8: The Pakistan Environment Protection Agency (Pak-EPA) shut down two steel mills in I-9 Industrial Area on Sunday as the emissions from the mills were posing a threat to the environment.

The agency took the step as part of its monitoring activities to control pollution in the federal capital.  According to Pak-EPA, its monitoring team visited I-9 Industrial Area in compliance with the direction of the Supreme Court that a healthy environment condition should be maintained in the federal capital.

During the monitoring, the team found Ittehad Steel Mills and Al-Hadeed Steel Mills violating the National Environmental Quality Standard and were not operating online monitoring system.  Both the steel mills were shut down and would only be allowed to start functioning after they start maintaining the required measures for pollution control, said a statement. — Staff Reporter