Tears of Shiva dry up amid cement factory row

Historic Hindu heritage site affected as Kahoon Valley locals complain of effect of industrialization on landscape and wildlife. (AN photo)

LAHORE The establishment of industrial units, especially cement factories, in the Kahoon Valley is affecting the beauty of the area and posing a threat to centuries-old heritage site the Katas Raj Temples, according to critics.
The valley — in the Chakwal District of Punjab — is famous for its forests of fragrant Phulai trees and the abundance of deer species.
Once known for its natural landscape, the Kahoon Valley is being deprived of its beauty due to the industrialization of the area.
“The magnificent beauty, forests, indigenous animals and heritage of my Kahoon Valley have been destroyed by cement factories,” says Raja Waseem, Head of the Kahoon Protection Committee — a body with representatives from 40 villages that was formed to “protect the valley from the damage caused by cement factories.”
At present, three cement factories and one paper mill is in operation here, while another entity has applied for a license to set up a cement factory.
“They are causing air, water and other types of pollution. The social set-up of the area is also ruined due to the workforce from outside the valley,” Malik Riaz, a resident of the valley, told Arab News.
The area has a religious significance for Hindus thanks to the ancient Katas Raj, the pools around which are said to be filled by the tears Shiva shed on the demise of his wife, Sati.
Hindus from across the world visit the site for purification.
The pond water used to be distributed to nearby areas through supply lines, but the pond has now dried up, allegedly because of the over-extracting of underground water by these industrial units.
Environment Protection Department (EPD) data shows that the DG Khan Cement factory extracts water from tube wells at the rate of 148 cubic meters per hour. The same is true of the other cement factories in the area.
This extraction has lowered the underground level of the water considerably, causing the Katas Raj pond to dry up.
Pakistan’s apex court has acted on the situation.
Top judge, Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar, asked the government attorney who allowed the cement factories to increase their production many times: “Did the federal government give the permission, or was it the provincial government?”
Punjab government attorney Aasma Hamid confirmed that the water levels in the pond had reduced. The chief minister has imposed a ban on further requests for new factories and the provincial government has filled the pond up to 20 feet,” she told the court.
A report by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) revealed that authorities ignored several important factors while issuing no objection certificates to the firms wanting to construct the factories in the valley.
Locals and nature lovers have been fighting in the courts since the opening of these factories and cases are still pending.
Representatives of the cement factories declined to comment on the situation.
But Irfan Sheikh, Director of the Bestway Cement factory has been reported saying: “Cement is prepared during a dry process. Water is used to cool bearings, compressor jackets, conditioning tower, mills etc. The propaganda [of using extra water] is baseless.”
The factories’ management claim they are a big source of development in the area.
Environmental lawyer and activist Ahmed Rafay Alam, however, has a different point of view. “If the development snatches the right to life, it must be banned,” he said.
Pakistan was the 12th largest cement exporting country in the world last year, and was number 14 in terms of financial gains.