Wahab wants tanneries to switch to solar power

KARACHI : Sindh Law and Environment Adviser Barrister Murtaza Wahab has suggested that the tanneries in Korangi Industrial Area should switch to the mode of solar power for operating their combined effluent treatment plant (CETP) to bring down the cost of treating the waste water of the industry.

He made this suggestion while taking part in a tree plantation tree drive on the green belt in Sector 7-A of Korangi Industrial Area. The office-bearers of the Pakistan Tanneries Association (PTA) were also present on the occasion.

Barrister Wahab said that using solar power to run the CETP would be helpful in bringing down the production cost of Pakistani leather products to increase their competitiveness in the international market.

He said there was also a need to enhance the capacity of the CETP in order to slash the cost being incurred by the tanneries to adopt necessary environmental mitigation measures.

He asked the PTA office-bearers to complain to the Sindh Environmental Protection Agency (Sepa) if any of their member industries didn’t use the CETP, as otherwise its waste water was directly discharged into the water body without any treatment.

He warned that due lawful action would be taken any such errant industry.

He assured the PTA office-bearers that the Sindh government would extend utmost help to resolve environmental issues of their industry.

Wahab directed the officials concerned not to grant permission to establish any new industry in the province without setting up the facility of the in-house effluent treatment plant.

Chairing a meeting to review the environmental issues of the province, he said such an industrial development was of no use that caused irreparable damage to the environment.

The adviser asked Sepa’s director-general to adopt guiding principles for effluent treatment by industrial units so as to ensure that there was no slackness by the industries to treat their waste water.

He suggested that environmental laws of the province should be amended to make them more effective to ensure their enforcement in a transparent and accountable manner to make the process of industrialisation environment-friendly.