Margallas’ nine pyrolysis plants are destroyed by EPD
RAWALPINDI: In a massive operation, the police, the administration of the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad, and the Punjab Environment Protection Department bulldozed nine pyrolysis plants that produce oil and carbon by burning car tyres at the Margalla Hills. They also detained two suspects for violating environmental laws.
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During the joint operation, 400 tons of hazardous carbon and 10 barrels of oil produced by the pyrolysis units were also taken.
EPD Deputy Director Maria Bibi and the Assistant Commissioner of Taxila, who were joined by a sizable detachment of police from Islamabad and Rawalpindi, oversaw the operation.
According to sources, both the federal and provincial governments have outlawed the construction of these plants. The thickest and blackest harmful smoke and carbon from tyre burning are produced by these plants.
In spite of the restriction, inhabitants of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa constructed these covert plants in the Margalla hills, and an extensive operation was carried out against them as a result of complaints.
The anti-smog effort, according to the EPD deputy director, is ongoing throughout the district. The lands at the intersection of the twin cities are off-limits for the installation of stone crushing equipment and pyrolysis facilities. Both of these result in poisonous fog, which is not acceptable, she said.
She continued, “Right now, we are also taking action against factories, brick kilns, and smoke-emitting vehicles.” Heavy penalties will now be enforced because several kilns have been destroyed in the area.
However, anti-smog committees have been established in each of the district’s tehsils. A zero-tolerance policy has also been put in place, and a red warning has been given to all factories, stone crushers, kilns, power plants, and hospital administrations.
The mafia, she claimed, “takes advantage of the boundaries of the twin cities by installing these plants at the confluence of the twin cities.” She continued, “Now we have begun coordinated efforts in such places to oppose such actions.
