The EPD sources said on Friday a large number of small units, involved in the business of melting animal fat and extracting oil and proteins from them, were established in various residential localities of Kasur. They said most of the factories were extracting oil from the fat of dead animals by placing heavy cauldrons in the open, which were emitting a foul smell, causing not only pollution but also various diseases.
The locals had repeatedly asked the district administration as well as the EPD for the closure of the illegal business, but no serious effort was made by the authorities concerned in this regard.
The locals claimed that the units extracted fats for manufacturing soaps in Kasur, Lahore, Faisalabad and some other districts of the province. Talking to The News, a resident of Niaznagar, Kasur, alleged that the business was going on with the connivance of the police and the local Environment Department. He said the citizens were suffering from TB, hepatitis, cancer and other dangerous diseases due to the unchecked business.
The EPD officials claimed that besides these fat melting units, some 237 tanneries were also operating in Kasur, producing wet blue leather, sold to bigger tanneries in Sialkot where the leather was finished and then exported abroad. They said the health and safety situation was also a cause for concern at the tanneries, adding that the tanneries discharged around 9,000 cubic metres of waste daily in Kasur.
Naseemur Rehman, a senior official of the EPD, said the department was very concerned about the environmental hazards being faced by the residents of Kasur. He said many projects had already been launched to improve the environment of Kasur and the recently the EPD issued notices to 11 fat melting units. He said if units failed to address the environmental issues, cases would be sent to the environment tribunal.
Published in Daily The News on Saturday 18, 2008.
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