earthPoems
Celebration of LifeArchive for October 10, 2008
EPA orders companies to set up water treatment plants
By Abdul Manan
LAHORE: Following a recent wave of gastroenteritis cases in Faisalabad, the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) has conducted high-level meetings with industrialists in Faisalabad, compelling them to follow standards and guidelines of the EPA in order to eradicate the gastroenteritis disease from the city, EPA officials told Daily Times on Thursday.
An EPA spokesman said that the city was facing such problems because of its contaminated water. He added that the EPA, upon inspection, found the city’s water supply to be unhealthy. He said that a water treatment plant was lacking in almost all the factories located around the city. He blamed the industries for disposing their hazardous polluted water into open drains, which had poisoned the sub-soil water.
He said that all industries were given a deadline of six months, in which they were expected to install water treatment plants. He said that any industries that would not comply with the EPA’s orders would be sealed.
He said that all industries were also ordered to remove solid wastes and make arrangements for proper disposal.
He said that all industries had been directed to make sure that the landscape around the factories was such that it would benefit the environment. He said that officials from the Environment and Forestry Department had been instructed to plant trees in nearby areas, adding that the Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry had been ordered to establish development funds like those in Sialkot.
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