Sepa summons five textile mills’ owners on February 19

The chief of the province’s environmental watchdog paid surprise visits to five textile mills and oversaw their production activities with regard to environmental standards on Friday.

Sindh Environmental Protection Agency (Sepa) Director General Naeem Ahmed Mughal found that none of the five mills was fully complying with the environmental laws of the province and most of their environmental affairs were not up to par.

Accompanied by Sepa Karachi Region Director Dr Ashique Ali Langah and other technical officials, Mughal visited the textile mills in District Malir and asked about their level of environmental compliance.

He also asked them about their mandatory environmental approval before establishing their operational setup, and investigated if their effluent is being treated in accordance with the required standard before it is released into water bodies.

None of the mills could provide a satisfactory answer to those questions, which implied that they were not fully complying with the environmental standards of the province.

Mughal directed their representatives to appear in person before him on February 19 along with documentary evidences of their compliance with the relevant clauses of the Sindh Environmental Protection Act 2014.

The Sepa chief said he would keep paying surprise visits to industries and hospitals in different districts of the province to not only cross-check the performance of his monitoring team but also to check if the industries are fully complying with the environmental standards.

He said the chief minister’s environment adviser Barrister Murtaza Wahab has ordered taking necessary action against polluters indiscriminately and to exercise no leniency in the matter.

While expediting its monitoring activities, Sepa has in the recent past taken strict action against polluting factories and also sealed many manufacturing units over their continued violations.

Under sections 11 and 14 of the environmental protection law, all industries are bound to treat their effluent and wastewater before releasing them into water bodies. Non-compliance can result in fines, and continued violations can result in shutting down their operations.