Environment Protection Agency (EPA) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) has issued notices to 65 industrial units, both, big and small, over creating air pollution besides discharging untreated waste that also adds to land and water pollution.
“The EPA has issued environmental protection order to these units across the province with the directives of taking measures to control air pollution,” said Director General EPA KP Dr Muhammad Bashir.
Talking to APP on Monday, Dr Bashir said that if these industrial units did not comply with the directives, the owners would face a penalty reaching up to Rs10 million besides imprisonment of two years.
Giving a breakup of the total figure of notices issued to industrial units, Dr Bashir said that it included 24 units in Peshawar. These industrial units include marble units, brick kiln units, match factories, chips factories and crush plants.
About 39 notices have been issued to the industrial units in Nowshera district and one in Manshera district, he added.
Maximum notices have been issued to the marble units which are 28 in number. Other notices were issued to 10 brick kilns, 2 poultry farms, 4 match factories, 11 chips factories and 1 crush plant.
Apart from it, DG EPA explained that EPA and district administration of Peshawar had also sealed about 66 industrial entities for creating environmental hazards in the area.
He said that action against environmental polluters would continue till compliance of the Environment Protection Order (EPO) in letter and spirit.