SEPA investigates 25 tanneries
The Sindh Environmental Protection Authority (SEPA), a government division in the Sindh, Pakistan, area, has initiated legal proceedings against 25 tanneries.
Director general, Mohammed Ali Shaikh, decided to take legal action after receiving complaints that the tanneries involved were discharging untreated effluents.
Recent reports from the Pakistan Tanners’ Association, stated that there were approximately 170 working tanneries in the Korangi Industrial Area.
The treatment plant at the site, which became operative last year, cost Rs500 million ($11.4 million) to set up. The plant can treat 26,000 cubic metres of effluent a day. Approximately 16,000 cubic metres of this comes from the tanneries, while the rest is domestic effluent.
Dr Shaikh has requested that SEPA staff collect samples of effluent being discharged by the 25 tanneries. This will result in legal action if the results do not meet National Environmental Quality Standards.
