SIALKOT
Punjab Secretary Environment Muhammad Anwar refused to withdraw the show-cause notices issued by the Environment Protection Agency to 264 tanneries in May 2013 for creating  and spreading environmental pollution, and remaining unable to make sufficient arrangements to control environmental pollution.
He stated this while addressing a meeting of the Sialkot based tanners and leather goods manufacturers and exporters held at Sialkot Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
He said that the notices could not be withdrawn as they were now under trial in Environment Tribunal Court at Lahore. The Punjab secretary, however, assured the Sialkot business community of early completion of the Sialkot Tannery Zone project and provision of all the basic facilities at the zone.  He said that the step would be helpful in the early shifting of the tanneries scattered in and around the Sialkot city.
The secretary said that the Punjab government was making an all-out effort to ensure maximum protection of environment, as every person of the society was the responsible for providing pollution-free environment to the upcoming generation.
He reviewed the progress of Sialkot Tannery Zone Project, saying that early completion of the project would be helpful in controlling the environmental pollution caused by the tanneries in and around the Sialkot city. During the meeting, the Sialkot based tanners expressed grave concern over the issuance of show cause notices and their trials in the tribunal court, urging the government to withdraw these notices. They pointed out that the issuance of the show cause notice had created an unrest among the tanners.
He directed Acting Commissioner Gujranwala Division Tariq Mehmood Malik and Sialkot DCO Iftikhar Ali Sahu to jazz up the pace of construction of project. He announced to convene the next meeting of all the stakeholders at the site of the project near village Khambraanwala-Sialkot after 15 days.