LAHORE, Jan 14: The Parks and Horticulture Authority is wasting an average of five million gallons of drinking water every month for growing grass and plants in 516 gardens and parks in the city without paying water bills.
The PHA is using water worth Rs1.9 million per month in its gardens and parks whereas it can meet the requirement at much lower cost by using canal and subsoil water. Canal water can be used in gardens and parks in the areas near the canal, while subsoil water can be pumped out by installing shallow water pumps costing around Rs10,000 each.
The authority is not only wasting drinking water for growing grass and plants, but has also to pay accumulated water supply bills of Rs21.4 million to the Water and Sanitation Agency.
Drinking water costs much more than the subsoil and canal water because it has to be pumped out of the aquifer which is several hundred feet deep. Subsoil water costs much lesser as it is available at a depth of 50 to 100 feet in most of the cities and towns situated in the plains. Canal water costs even lesser than the subsoil water.
Canal water was used in most of the gardens and parks in the provincial metropolis including the Circular Gardens around the Walled City before independence. The channel dried up and gradually disappeared after the civic authorities discontinued the use of canal water in Circular Gardens.
Per capita water availability in Pakistan has been decreasing at an alarming rate. In 1951, per capita availability was 53,000 cubic metres which has now decreased to 12,000 cubic metres just touching water scarcity level of 1,000 cubic metres (World Bank study). The existing water resources are under threat due to untreated discharge of municipal and industrial wastes to river and other surface water reservoirs.
Municipal water is treated only in two cities viz. Karachi and Islamabad though the capacity of these treatment plants is much less than the actual quantum of waste water. The effluent of other cities is mostly drained into the rivers having high biological oxygen demand (BOD) and chemicals oxygen demand (COD). A recent study conducted by the EPA indicated BOD of the Ravi as high as 300mg/l as compared to acceptable limit of 9mg/l.
About 525 types of chemicals worth Rs4,500 million and dyes/colours worth Rs5,000 million are imported every year for use in different processing industries. Most of the industries discharge the effluents into watercourses without proper treatment.
The industry imports 3,000 tons of formic acid (a carcinogenic chemical), 2,052 tons of phenols, 4,200 tons of isocyanides, 31 tons of mercury, 22,817 tons of inks/dyes, 234 tons of arsenic and 1,615 tons of chromium salt every year. Local production of chemicals is limited to only a few categories, viz. soda ash, sulphuric acid, caustic soda, chlorine, fertilizers, pesticides, paint/varnishes and polishes and creams. All these chemicals are polluting the environment every year. Their processing generates wastes and pose potential risk to public health.
A recent survey of 150 industrial units in five potentially toxic groups completed by EPAs in the three provinces, reported extreme deviation from the levels prescribed in the National Environmental Quality Standards. Another survey carried out by the Federal Environmental Protection Agency showed that tanneries located in Kasur and Sialkot are discharging effluent with chrome concentration ranging from 182 to 222mg/l against standards of 1mg/l and chemical oxygen demand ranging from 5,002 and 7,320mg/l against the limit of 150mg/l prescribed in NEQS.
A chromium salt producing unit near Rawalpindi is reportedly discharging chromium rich effluent in a water stream causing severe implications for residents of adjacent areas. In such case, we have to differentiate between NEQS violation and environmental crime. Tanneries in Lahore, Gujranwala, Sialkot and other cities are also discharging the chromium rich effluent in watercourses.