Kasoor City - Geographical Background

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• Pakistan
     - BackGround
     - Leather Industry

• Enviornmental Act of Pakistan

• Kasoor City
     - Geographical BackGround
     - Tanning Industry

• Project Introduction

• Project Detail
     - Effluent Treatment Plant
     - Chromium Recovery Plant
     - Social Sector Of KTPC
     - Cleaner Technology

• Project Brief
     - Cost Sharing and Funding
     - Financial Viability
     - Objective
     - Project Beneficieries

  • Tanning
     - Process
     - Chrome Tanning

• Tannery Waste Treatment
     - Water Pollution Equipment

KASUR TANNERIES POLLUTION CONTROL PROJECT (KTPC)
- A DOCUMENTARY


The town of Kasur is situated about 55 km southeast of Lahore, in the province of Punjab, near the border with India, where the river Sutlej enters Pakistan. Kasur has been known since antiquity as a centre of trade, commerce and culture. According to the last (I 98 1) census the number of inhabitants was about 155.500. For 1993 it is estimated to be about 270.000.
The municipal boundary covers an area of about 2,335 acres, surrounded by agricultural land (wheat, grams, maize, rice and cotton). Mainly due to tannery effluent water, large land areas are at present under water constituting the so called stagnant lakes or pools, for which the town has become famous during the last few years as one of the most heavily polluted towns in Pakistan.
The textile industry is the largest industry in Kasur in terms of employment, followed by the tanning industry. These industries dominate the town, with a large proportion of the population directly or indirectly depending on them. Kasur, located in a NW-SE ridge is surrounded by a flat landscape. The land is characterized by low permeability of the topsoil. Wind erosion and water logging deteriorates soil qualities thereby reducing land areas suited for agriculture. Farming relies on irrigation, using ground water and private tube wells. Intensive irrigation has changed the soil structure. Water logging and high salinity decrease the productivity of the agriculture sector. A Salinity Control and Reclamation Programme (SCARP) consisting of 12 wells and drainage channel, Pandoki Outfall, has been constructed in order to overcome these disadvantages. However, only one of these wells is currently in operation. The Kasur district covers a gross area of 981,702 acres of which 705,224 acres is classified as cultivable land. Under irrigated agriculture condition, the soil is very productive. Rice, sugarcane, cotton, various fodder, maize and vegetables are the main crops in summer, while wheat is the only dominant crop in winter (rabbi). A former river, Rohi Nullah, is meandering through the town. Natural affluent to this river has been cut off and today the water in the river consists of the domestic sewage from the town and some of the wastewater from the tanning industry. The riverbed is also the dumping site for garbage and other solid wastes. Farmers along the river are using the mixed sewage for irrigation, watering of buffaloes and washing of clothes. Rohi Nullah disappears in a semiarid area near the Pandoki Outfall. During the monsoon period (July and August) the river fills up the former bed and even submerges the downtown areas of Kasur. In this period of the year the river also reaches the Pandoki Outfall and finally the Sutlej River, one of the main tributaries of Indus. Yearly rainfall is about 500 mm and yearly evaporation is about 1,500 mm, i.e. a deficit of 1,000 MM.