Industrial effluents, sewage dumped into sea without treatment, Sindh tells Senate body

KARACHI: The industries in Karachi generate around 100 million gallons of industrial effluents per day, of which 90 percent goes into the Arabian sea without any treatment, the Sindh government told the Senate’s Standing Committee on Climate Change in Karachi on Thursday.

The Senate Standing Committee on Climate Change headed by Senator Sitara Ayaz held a meeting with the Sindh Chief Secretary Syed Mumtaz Ali Shah, which was also attended by the Federal State Minister for Climate Change, Zartaj Gul Wazir, besides federal and provincial secretaries. The chief secretary informed the Senate Standing Committee that the Sindh Industrial Trading Estate (SITE) and Korangi Industrial and Trading Estate (KITE) have no Combined Effluent Treatment Plants and the discharge containing hazardous materials, heavy metals, oil etc., is dumped into rivers and creeks and the already polluted harbor.

The Chief Secretary Syed Mumtaz Ali Shah informed the meeting that around 472 MGD of sewage is generated in Karachi of which only 50 MGD is treated, while another treatment plant with a capacity of 77 MGD will be operational from June 2019 and the city will soon have five Combined Effluent Treatment Plants to treat the polluted water of the city before being discharged into the sea.

The Chairperson of the Senate Standing Committee on Climate Change, Senator Sitara Ayaz questioned about the waste generated by the hospitals in the city. The chief secretary informed the meeting that incinerators and other treatment plants were installed in 600 hospitals of the city and with the establishment of the Sindh Waste Solid Management Board, conditions in the metropolis have improved. The Federal State Minister Zartaj Gul Wazir appreciated the efforts of the government of Sindh. She said the provincial government has realized that pollution is a big issue and the federal government will extend all its support to province. Wazir said the Sindh government has planted mangroves at a large scale which is also a great achievement.

Senator Keshoo Bai, Senator Muhammad Asad Ali Khan Junejo, Senator Samina Saeed and Senator Muhammad Akram also presented their views and recommendations about the climate change.