LAHORE: Cement plants in Punjab’s Salt Range are expanding their production lines and their possible extensive ground water usage may lead to water shortage for the locals.

The apprehension was expressed at a recent meeting held to review progress on a project entitled “Delineation of negative and positive mining areas for installation of cement plants in the Salt Range.”

According to the minutes of the meeting obtained by Dawn, the chief secretary who was in the chair observed that the installed cement plants were expanding their production lines without seeking any prior approval from the government which was a matter of grave concern.

He noticed that a cement plant required extensive amount of water and in the current situation the installed cement plants were exploiting ground water. Therefore, expansion in the established cement plants meant extensive exploitation of ground water which might lead to water scarcity for locals. Consequently, governance issues would arise if a uniform policy was not adopted, he reportedly said.

The chair also observed that a huge area of raw material had been granted to the cement plants in the past and at the rate of their current installed capacities, the reserves in these leased areas might last for more than 200 years. “This requires scrutiny and rationalisation,” he said.

The project consultant, Mr Patrick O’Brien, gave a detailed presentation regarding the status update. He said data streams regarding surface water sources, land use, transportation network and location of existing and proposed cement plants had been prepared by Nespak.

Plants in Salt Range area expand work to the detriment of local population

And the underground water studies of the three existing cement plants, along with socio-economic survey of the project area, was in progress.

He explained that identification of the negative and positive areas with respect to installation of new plants was dependent on multiple factors like water resource availability, environmental pollution, traffic congestion and socio-economic conditions, which were being studied through data collection and would form the basis of the final report.

However, as per the preliminary understanding, the industrial undertakings should be spread to other resource rich areas through a master plan and the existing plants must comply with planning, environmental and all related regulations.

The consultant committed that he would soon submit the final report encompassing the negative and positive mining areas for installation of more cement plants in the Salt Range.

The chief secretary highlighted the importance of completion of the exercise at the earliest as, he said, a dozen new cement sector entrepreneurs had submitted applications for establishing plants in the Salt Range, and for acquiring mining rights.

“This translates into an approximate investment of Rs300 billion,” he said, reiterating that such a huge investment in the province was linked to timely completion of the project.

Published in Dawn, October 23rd, 2017