This project ( KTPC) is first of it’s kind. It is the largest project in Asia and the second largest in the whole world. The project includes common effluent treatment plant, pilot chromium recovery plant and solid waste dumping site. It is technically assisted by UNIDO.

It intends to:

• Contain and reduce the environmental deterioration caused by tannery waste (improving the tanners’ existing inadequate technical and managerial skills)
• Promote environmental awareness among the population (improving overall living and working conditions and creating environmentally sustainable development)
• Include various measures to build and strengthen necessary institutional capacities and regulatory measures.
• Develop necessary action for implementation
• Phase 1, which is under execution, focuses on introducing better process controls in tanneries, in house pre-treatment and and establishing an overall drainage system to eradicate existing stagnant pools.

Kasur’s environmental degradation, not only to air, surface water, fertile land and ground water, but also direct health hazard to the people living and working in the effected areas are results of:

• Chemically polluted water (9000 cubic meters of heavily polluted tannery waste water from the four tannery clusters, about 2500 cubic meters of tannery effluent with domestic sewage) affects the growth of crop yields, output from animals and their health, as well as inducing social problems in the area.
• Eradication of 100-150 tons/day of solid tannery waste and 150-200 tons/day of solid domestic waste caused by casual dumping.
• The environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report (IUCN, February 1993 , page 26) attributes the ground water contamination to the tannery effluent , waste waters and stagnant pools.
• Respiratory disorders, skin infection and related disease, diarrhea / dysentery and typhoid are the most serious illnesses among the community. Currently 70,000 to 80,000 people are environmentally exposed.

• 4,000 tons of BOD,11,000 tons of COD, 10,000 tons of SS and 160 tons of chromium is the total amount of tannery pollution discharged into the envir- onment every year.
• Due to polluted ground water , more than 800 people die of kidney ailments each year.
• On average 2000 to 3000 cases of water borne diseases are hospitalized every year.
• There are 1500 positive cases of cholera with 100 death per year. Water borne diseases are more common in areas which lack potable water supply. People with tannery related jobs suffer more from skin diseases than people in other occupations.
• More people are hospitalized in cancer hospitals from Kasur than any other city in Pakistan.

Mainly due to tannery effluent water, large agricultural land areas constituting stagnant lakes or pools has made kasur famous as the most heavily polluted town not only in Pakistan but all over the world. This disaster was neglected in past by decades picked up on top priority by UNDP under execution by UNIDO.