DG, SEPA Pays Surprise Visits To Factories

Director General of Sindh Environmental Protection Agency, Naeem Ahmed Mughal paid a surprise visit to five textile mills and monitored their production activities with regard to environmental standards here on Friday

KARACHI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 14th Feb, 2020 ) :Director General of Sindh Environmental Protection Agency, Naeem Ahmed Mughal paid a surprise visit to five textile mills and monitored their production activities with regard to environmental standards here on Friday.

He found that none of the five mills was fully complying with the environmental laws of Sindh and most of their environmental affairs were not up to the mark, uses of the Sindh Environmental Protection Act-2014 uses of the Sindh Environmental Protection Act of 2014,said a spokesperson of Sindh Environment, Climate Change and Coastal Department.

On this occasion, Naeem Mughal said he would keep paying surprise visits to industries and hospitals in various districts of Sindh to not only cross-check the performance of his monitoring team but also to check if industries were fully complying with the environmental standards practically.

He further said Advisor to the Sindh Chief Minister on Law, Environment, Climate Change, and Coastal Development Barrister Murtuza Wahab directed for necessary action against polluters indiscriminately and no leniency may be granted to them.

It may be mentioned that while expediting its monitoring activities, SEPA in the recent past took strict action against polluting factories and also sealed many manufacturing units on their continued violations.

It may be pointed out that under Sections 11 and 14 of the Sindh Environmental Protection Act 2014 all industries are bound to treat their effluent and wastewater before releasing it into the water bodies. In case of non-compliance, they may be fined and on their continued violations their operations may be stopped.It may be mentioned that while expediting its monitoring activities, SEPA in the recent past took strict action against polluting factories and also sealed many manufacturing units on their continued violations.

Escorted by Director Karachi Region Dr. Ashique Ali Langah and other technical officials Naeem Mughal visited Qasim, Rajby, Lucky, Popular and Zaman textile mills in District Malir and enquired about their level of environmental compliance.

He also asked them about their mandatory environmental approval before establishing their operational setup and also investigated if their effluent was being treated as per the required standard before its release into the water bodies.

None of the mills could have given a satisfactory answer to the above questions which implied that they were not fully complying with the environmental standards of the province.

He directed their representatives to appear in person before him on Feb.19, 2020 along with documentary evidence of their compliance with the concerned officials.