LAHORE - The Environment Protection Department (EPD) has identified 217 factories which are tarnishing natural beauty of the Ravi River by dumping industrial and domestic waste into its water.
The EPD on Friday submitted a report before the Green Bench of the Lahore High Court hearing environment-related cases.
The report said that the department during last week identified 217 industrial units that were discharging their wastage into the Ravi River and notices had also been issued to these units. The survey teams are busy in identifying such more factories which are reducing natural beauty of the river, the department law officer told the single bench headed by Justice Mansoor Ali Shah.
“The new report of survey teams spotting such factories harmful for the river will be submitted before the bench on May 25,” the department said.
The provincial law officer told the bench that the Punjab government was working on the issue and different feasibility reports had been prepared, suggesting installation of water filtration plants at different points of the river. However, the bench directed amicus curiae and environmental experts including Advocate Nusrat Jahan Nabeela to give the names of personalities required for constitution of a commission to be tasked to find out an appropriate solution regarding stoppage of the discharge of polluted water into the river. The Green Bench will resume hearing on May 25.
The petitioner, a non-government organisation, had submitted that untreated domestic and industrial waste was being dumped into the river. The NGO pleaded that it was calculated that nearly 48 percent of the overall pollution discharged into the Indus River came from the Ravi River.