The residents of SITE area have been moving courts to put a stop to illegal dumping of toxic waste for a number of years, without much hope. They formed the Society for Safe and Healthy Environment (SSHE) in 2007 after the tragic death of 9 year old Iftikhar due to severe burns from hazardous material in March 2006. Iftikhar was playing with some 20 other children, oblivious to the fact that the open ground was being used for dumping of hazardous industrial waste.

Formed by the poor dwellers who barely earn a sustainable income by working in nearby factories in the SITE Industrial area, the SSHE has been running on meagre funds to fight an arduous battle against the government regulatory and planning organisations — the Sindh Environment Protection Agency and the Site Limited — to ensure safe disposal of industrial waste in their area. The residents have also been sending letters to the SEPA and the SITE Limited to monitor irresponsible dumping of toxic industrial waste thrown at undesignated sites. They still fight the battle with little hope of implementation or enforcement of environmental law, especially the regular submission of Environment Monitoring Reports (EMR) to the SEPA.

In 2007, the Sindh High Court ordered restraining of irresponsible dumping of hazardous industrial waste in the entire Sindh and ordered the SEPA to regulate such dumping through the EMRs. So far there has been nominal (read no) implementation. All this occurred after a lot of uproar in the media which prompted the SEPA to take action against the perpetrators.

While government agencies fail to function effectively — regulating and monitoring all sorts of waste and ensuring its safe disposal — the city of Karachi is sitting on a time bomb waiting to claim human lives if not nabbed in time. With five industrial zones in Karachi, there are reportedly no official or exclusively designated sites for dumping of hazardous industrial waste in the city.

While companies and industrial units are bound to report their waste and its safe disposal regularly through Environmental Monitoring Reports (EMR), the Society contends that unofficial data suggests that almost 85 per cent industrial units do not send in their reports. Later in 2006, a multinational paint manufacturing company accused for having thrown toxic industrial waste in Orangi which led to almost 14 children sustaining severe burns, simply said that they could not submit EMRs “due to rush of work”.

There is a delicate balance between observing environmental laws and facilitating profiteers. While regulatory agencies are allegedly accused of letting profiteers get away with murder; industrial units make no bones about the fact that Pakistan is perhaps one of the most flexible countries in twisting environmental law. Enforcement therefore seems a far-fetched dream, especially for the disadvantaged population who are most vulnerable to industrial waste dumping.

Many industry and mill owners report that they have no idea where the waste is taken, once truck loads leave factory premises. While there should be strict vigil on safe disposal of toxic industrial waste, the contractors of the dumpers have allegedly been mixing all sorts of waste and dumping not just industrial but municipal waste as well, either into the Malir and Lyari rivers, sewage drains, and open grounds or even on road sides in the middle of the night, with impunity.

This is playing havoc with people’s lives, as people continue to drink poison for water and inhale toxic air. According to a report by the World Bank, the Pakistani government carries an enormous health burden which costs them almost Rs365 annually, the most from polluted water supply and sanitation which is Rs112 billion per annum.

Ignorance and indifference on the part of most local industrial units and some multi-national corporations who reportedly ignore their crucial responsibility to dispose their toxic waste with utmost care, leads to two dangerous scenarios. As the dumpers continue to dump all sorts of waste, in case of accidents, investigations fail to pinpoint the allegedly accused emitters of toxic waste and taking them to task. Two, the environmental law has distinct laws to deal with the situation but implementation remains extremely weak and flawed which allows industrial units to flout the law with impunity, especially the submission of EMRs.

In a recent article in the New York Times, there was tremendous emphasis laid on the effective functioning of the US Environment Protection Agency to help deal with irresponsible dumping of toxic waste in water or burning in the air. However, there were key concerns: how to bring the industry to understand the real meaning of ethical profits without making them appear a mere ‘window dressing’; and how strictly should the industry be regulated and monitored for safe disposal of hazardous industrial waste.

While the US president reportedly lent his support to the head of the US regulatory environment agency, our hapless population awaits some stroke of luck to help them live a safe and healthy life and also ensure one for their children. Until then, the environment regulatory agencies will walk around with blood on their hands for not enforcing law enough to help save innocent lives.