Karachi: The Supreme Court-mandated Commission on Water and Sanitation has ordered sugar mills to install in-house water treatment systems within one week, a news source reported. Justice (retd) Amir Hani Muslim expressed his displeasure at the fact that Sindh Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) had not paid diligent to the matter.
The commission had ordered the sugar mills to install water treatment plants back in July. In August, the commission had ordered inspection of all the mills and distilleries by Dr Ghulam Murtaza of Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR) and SEPA.
The commission was told in the hearing that 21 out of 34 sugar mills have submitted an environment management plan (EMP) and the initial environmental examination (IEE) to SEPA. However, the EMPs and IEEs have not been forwarded to the commission yet. Justice Muslim instructed the agency to forward such reports immediately in the future.
