Thar activists claimed that the desert region’s coal project had contaminated the area’s drinking water.
Local activists spoke at a press conference at the Karachi Press Club about the findings that cast doubt on Engro Corporation Ltd.’s assertions that its operations in Block II of the Thar coal area do not threaten drinking water quality or the integrity of subsoil and water aquifers. Engro Corporation Ltd owns stakes in coal mining and coal-based power plants.
The activists, including Abdul Aziz Halepota, Abdul Hamid Soomro, Lachman Burano, Leela Ram, Sooraj Jaipal, Neehal Mehran Poto, and Preetam Mehgawar, expressed concern about the local communities’ drinking water being contaminated and claimed that they were now experiencing health issues as a result of the improper disposal of the toxic water.
They urged the government to intervene to safeguard the Thar population by noting the water quality study. The Thar coalfields have recently seen elevated levels of lead, mercury, chromium, arsenic, and selenium, according to a paper written by Dr. Mark Cherniak of the Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide (ELAW). These elevated levels are thought to be related to coal activity.
The research is based on experiments carried out by the Sindh Environmental Preserve Agency-approved Soil and Water Pollution Control Laboratory of Mehran University of Engineering and Technology (Seppa).
Lead levels were discovered to be more than seven times higher than both Sindh and World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines at all six locations.
The levels of mercury were shown to be 19 to 95 times higher than Sindh and WHO guidelines.
Selenium concentrations were discovered to be six to twenty times higher than Sindh and WHO guidelines. According to the analysis, arsenic levels were two times higher than WHO regulations.
When present in high concentrations, hazardous heavy metals including lead, mercury, selenium, and arsenic can seriously impact human health and the environment.