ISLAMABAD, June 21: The state minister for environment, Maj (retired) Tahir Iqbal, on Monday told the National Assembly that effluent from industrial units throughout the country was being thrown into canals and rivers through drains, contaminating fresh water sources.
In a written reply to a question asked by Ijaz Ahmad Chaudhary, the minister said: "Yes, it is a fact that water of industrial units, particularly industrial cities, including Islamabad Capital Territory, falls into canals and rivers through Nullahs."
However, he said, the industrial units were bound to install treatment plants to ensure that their effluent discharge was according to the National Environmental Quality Standards (NEQS).
At present, the minister said, combined effluent treatment plants at Kasur and Korangi were available for tanneries in respective industrial zones. Moreover, 128 industrial unites have their treatment plants, and the government is facilitating establishment of combined effluent treatment plants in large industrial estates by arranging concessional funding and equity participation.
These efforts will create a basic legal infrastructure in a few months time, he said. It is worth mentioning here that according to recent Economic Survey of Pakistan, urbanization and the continued industrial development had placed immense stress on the water resources of the country.
Therefore, safe fresh water supply is at risk in many parts of the country. Various estimates have been made over the years in connection with water quality. Statistics included in the economic survey show that though in general, physical quality of the water is good, the pollution levels are high in and around the big cities.
As far as chemical characteristics are concerned, according to the survey, the turbidity in some areas such as Rawalpindi, Bahawalpur, Gujrat, Hyderabad, Sukkar and Ziarat exceeds the WHO standard value of 5 NTU. Similarly, the pH value of all the samples collected ranged from 6.1 to 9.0 against the WHO recommended guideline range of 6.5-8.5 for drinking water (PCRWR 2002).
The chemical quality of the water was found to be within recommended levels with respect to calcium and chromium. However, high arsenic contents were found in samples collected from eight of the sites namely Lahore, Multan, Bahawalpur, Gujranwala, Kasur, Sheikhupura and Hyderabad.
According to the WHO, the groundwater of Lahore up to 700-ft has been seriously contaminated and should not be used for human consumption. In 1989, pollution was found to a depth of 300-ft, and to 500-ft in 1992.
As far as bacterial contamination is concerned, more than 50 per cent of all the samples collected from 17 locations were found unfit for human consumption. All the samples collected from Gujrat, Khuzdar, Loralai and Ziarat were found to be contaminated with bacteria and totally unfit for human consumption.
The overall deteriorating quality of water can be attributed to a continuous drop in the water table due to high industrial and agricultural demands. It has been observed that the water table has been decreasing at a rate of 10 feet every year, the economic survey said.