The Punjab government has released funds, amounting to Rs 90 million, for setting up an industrial zone for tanneries.
The proposed tanneries zone would be developed over 300 acres of land and would be equipped with common treatment plant for controlling effluent and solid waste of tanneries.
The official sources told Business Recorder here on Wednesday that the main objective of establishing industrial zone for tanneries was to shift all existing tanneries to the proposed zone for reducing the scale of pollution.
The sources disclosed that over 90 million-meter leather was annually manufactured, and annual consumption of chemical was 65,000 tones used for leather processing tanneries in the country.
The tanneries are using 40,000 tons of toxic chemicals, of which 9,600 tones of chemicals, are used and consumed in Sialkot tanneries.
At present in Sialkot, as many as 248 tanneries of different sizes - nine large, 79 medium and 160 small tanneries - are functioning in and close to Sialkot.
The Punjab government has taken the step to cope with the pollution threats caused by the ill-planned establishment of tanneries in and close to Sialkot, which are posing serious threats to human life and gradually degrading the environmental conditions.
marketing@alchempro.com
