The kasur Tanneries

Submitted To: Sir Naeem Hayat

Submitted by: Shamaila Safdar

Summary
Kasur district is famous for leather tanning and its leather products are used worldwide, and thus
it contributes significantly to GDP of Pakistan. The government of Pakistan and United Nations
Development Program (UNDP) signed the Kasur Tannery Pollution Control Project document in
January 1996 with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) being the
implementing agency for technical assistance. The Project intended to contain and reduce the
environmental degradation caused by tannery waste; to improve the tanners technical and
managerial skills; to promote environmental awareness among the pollution, thus improving
their overall living, working conditions and creating an environmentally sustainable tanning
industry in Kasur. The project was conceived to deal with stagnant polls evacuation, providing
effluent drainage and collection system, constructing common effluent pre treatment plant and
sanitary landfill for solid waste disposal, and incorporating in-house waste minimizing measures
such as low-waste leather processing, chromium recovery and occupational health improvement.
The project, based in a large building set amid tannery clusters, has established an effluent
treatment plant, chromium plant and solid waste disposal site. It intends to serve as a model to be
replicated in other places.

Statement of the Problem:

Major problems facing in kasur, tanning industries are within and around residential areas
because there is no proper industrial area. An environmental and health hazards and the
occupational health and safety are facing problems in Kasur. The pollution problems are created
by the discharge of large volumes of untreated tannery waste of over 230 tanneries in Kasur.

Causes of the problem:

The leather industry on the other hand is deteriorating the environment in Kasur and is creating
health and social problems for the local inhabitants. In Kasur tanning industries are within and
around residential areas because there is no proper industrial area. The discharge of tanneries
effluents pollute air, soil, subsoil, surface water and underground water because of the presence
of toxic organic and inorganic compounds especially chromium which is used in tanning

processes. . These units discharge untreated poisonous waste in the open or in Rohi Nullah and
contaminate the underground water. The leather tanning industry's expansion, workers and local
residents have been exposed to life-threatening substances as a result of tannery pollution.
Sanitary conditions inside and outside Kasur's tanneries were poor. Approximately 9,000 cubic
meters of highly polluted waste waster were discharged without any treatment on a daily basis,
resulting in the formation of stagnant pools of waste water covering an area of approximately
400 acres of land. Large amounts of solid waste were generated and disposed of inside the
tannery cluster due to the absence of a well-functioning solid waste management system. Often
the waste was burned, creating soil and water pollution as well as an unbearable smell in the
area. The city's underground water was contaminated and unfit for human and animal
consumption. Tannery owners, workers and residents in the area were disproportionately exposed
to diseases such as skin infection, respiratory disorders and stomach-related diseases.

Decision Criteria:
The tanning industry is very important for exporting leather as main item.

Decision:
To provide tanneries effluent collection system from various clusters of tanneries, provide
collective primary treatment effluent disposal system, arrange solid waste management system,
provide in-house pollution control methods in tanneries and organize institutional set-up to
improve the occupational health and safety of workers and generally improve environmental
conditions of Kasur.

Conclusion & Recommendation:

The evacuation of stagnant pools spread over 400 acres of land has been achieved. As a
result the tanners and people are satisfied and happy over almost odor free environment
Appropriate level of control has been exercised over the harmful solid waste and polluted
wastewater from tanneries. However, innovative and developmental input over the
improvement and living conditions in Kasur is rarely observed.
The Common Effluent Pre-Treatment Plant has been able to remove all the hazardous
impurities from the tanneries wastewater except the sulphide content.
2

 Health conditions have rarely improved as there is no noticeable decline in the registered
cases of infectious diseases.
There should be a ban on cultivation of edible crops on the reclaimed land and use of
Rohi Nallah sewage for irrigation purposes.
The personnel should be employed with necessary set of competencies and skills.
Solid waste management system needs improvements in services
Material balance studies are required as there is a great difference between the effluent
inflow to the plant and the pre-treated water outflow

http://www.dawn.com/news/29806/project-to-check-tanneries-pollution
http://www.environment.gov.pk/PRO_PDF/PositionPaper/Kasur%20tannery
%20pollution%20control%20project.pdf

http://www.environmental-auditing.org/Portals/0/AuditFiles/pkeng01ar_ft_ktpol.pdf