HYDERABAD, June 23: The Sindh Abadgar Board has appealed to the prime minister and the Sindh chief minister to take immediate notice of diseases and deaths caused by contaminated water and food in the province. In a communication addressed to the prime minister on Wednesday, the president of the board, Mr Majeed Nizamani, said that according to experts thousands of lives were in danger due to water-borne diseases particularly in lower Sindh.
He said the main source of drinking water in the province were rivers, canals and watercourses which were mostly polluted.
Mr Nizamani said 60 per cent population of Sindh was deprived of safe drinking water but no survey had been conducted to ascertain quality of water.
He said the release of toxic water of the Manchhar Lake into the Indus River has aggravated the situation.
He said a government spokesman had disclosed on the floor of the Sindh assembly that around 14,000 cases of skin disease leishmaniasis had been registered.
He called upon the government to carry out a survey of rivers, canals and watercourses to ascertain the quality of water particularly in the deltaic region.
The board president demanded that laboratories for testing water and food might be set up in every district of Sindh to minimize risks of water-borne and food-borne diseases because residue of chemical fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides have been detected in vegetables, milk, meat and chickens.
Mr Nizamani called for strict action against illegal slaughter houses as animals suffering from various diseases, were being slaughtered at such places.
He alleged that the EPA rules and regulations were being implemented in Punjab but they were ignored in Sindh.
KOTRI SITE: Site managing director Shahzar Shamoon has said the Sindh government will provide a special grant of Rs30 million for improvement of the Kotri Site infrastructure.
Talking to industrialists of the Kotri Site on Thursday, he said an equal amount would be released from the special grant provided by the federal government to ensure availability of basic facilities in the Site area.
He said the water supply system of the area would also be improved. He added that work on an oxidation plant was in progress. He said following completion of the plant, which would cost Rs8 million, industrial waste would not be released in the K.B. Feeder.
Mr Shamoon said the president had also approved treatment and effluent plants for the Karachi Site area, Korangi industrial area, Federal-B area and the North Karachi Super Highway industrial area. He said the federal government would provide 75 per cent of the funds for the purpose while the remaining expenditure would be borne by the city district government, Sindh government and industrialists of industrial zones concerned. He said the Kotri industrial zone had also been included in the scheme and if industrialists of Kotri provided 8.25 per cent of the total cost, a treatment plant would also be installed in the Kotri Site.
He said fire brigade services, staff and vehicles would also be placed at the disposal of KATI to run the system smoothly. He said Site would provide Rs2.5 million for the purpose.
Mr Shamoon also announced construction of a one million gallon capacity underground water tank for employees of industrial units.