“When I get up in the morning I start coughing, uncontrollably; I feel as if something is stuck in my throat that I can’t take out even through excessive coughing. The doctors have recently diagnosed me with a lung infection, even though, I have never smoked in my life” said Salman, a 42 year old resident of Daroghawala area of the city. He said that a layer of black smoke fills the horizon, every morning, coming from the steel mills that are operational in the area. Like Salman, many other individuals have been complaining about the pollution that comes with the steel mills.
Talking to Pakistan Today, Salman said it is not only he who is suffering from a disease caused by pollution, in fact, most of the people in the area are getting sick due to the pollution that is caused by the steel mills.
According to the official record, at least 350 steel mill units are operating in Northern Lahore, and most of these mills work on substandard fuel that can prove toxic for the people living in close proximity to the steel mills. Sources in EPA said that the issue of steel mills, violating environmental laws, is not a new one for the department as it had been receiving complaints of the dwellers in the area for quite some time now. “In the past, the department had started a drive against those steel mill owners that were involved in using substandard fuel in their mills The department raided and closed these steel mills many times but they started reworking after paying fines”, he said and added that the, “Majority of steel mills use sub-standard fuel, used-tyres and other burning material, that are restricted, to run the plants.”
An official seeking anonymity told Pakistan Today that the matter regarding such steel mills is under notice of EPA officials, but the problem occurs when violators get relief by using their political links. He informed this scribe that such steel mills are using substandard fuel that release pollutants such as sulphur dioxide, nitric oxide, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and some toxic metals. He further said that the hazardous gases emitted by the steel mills were the major cause of increasing cancer patients in the city.
In November 2016, following the first ever toxic smog in Lahore, EPA launched a curb drive against such steel mills. Agency sources underscored that at that time of the drive, most of the steel mills were found using substandard fuel and during that drive around 50 steel mills were sealed by the department. Later these steel mills resumed their work while the drive was also halted for unknown reasons.
It has also been observed that the EPA also launched a similar curb drive in March, 2016, under section 16 of PEPA act. For this purpose, the department had constituted five different teams with four persons each. All of the teams were equipped with testing laboratories. That time the drive was stopped as well.
Sources in EPA further informed that many steel mill units are owned by political notables, against whom the department has failed to take action due to political pressure.
When contacted, EPA’s Director Monitoring Laboratory and Implementation (ML&I) Tauqir Qureshi said that the EPA is all set to take action against the owners of the steel mills that use substandard fuel. He said that department has hired staff which will start monitoring the violators of environmental laws.
