Sahiwal project: the other view.

THIS is with reference to the article 'Life under the shadow of a coal-fired power plant' (Eos, Dec 15). The Sahiwal power plant always abides by the strictest standards in the whole process of construction and operation and ensures all work is conducted in compliance with laws and regulations. Was the local population's health damaged by the plant?

To find out the truth, company employees went to the village concerned. The villagers unanimously rejected the accusations made in the article. Dr Allah Ditta, the only doctor in the village, rejected the purported health effects in the article. He said: 'Nobody got ill or sick due to Sahiwal power plant and the accusations are baseless,' The lady mentioned in the article got the breathing problem 10 years ago, which was before the power plant was built, and so is the case with other people suffering health problems.

The tap water in the village already had some problems before the erection of the power plant. Mr Israr, who was mentioned in the article, said that he and his mother had no problem owing to the power plant. In fact, he was very grateful that electricity could be available 24/7 nowadays and many people of his village got jobs at the power plant. The plant management couldn't meet Mr Siddique since he was in another city. We will meet him and invite him to the plant when he comes back.

Is the plant polluting air, water and crops? The reality is quite the opposite, because the company has placed the highest priority on environmental protection. The world's most advanced environmental protection equipment such as FGD, ESP, Low NOx Burners, etc. have been put into operation simultaneously with the generation units, and they are all run by local employees. The emissions of the power plant are maintained well below the design value and far superior to World Bank standards.

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To ensure the accuracy and fairness of the emission data, EPA-certified third party environmental monitoring agencies are engaged to monitor the quality of air, water and soil. Meanwhile, a number of monitoring stations have been set up in the vicinity to monitor the air quality to ensure that it has no adverse effect on the crops or orchards of the surrounding villages. The allegation that the floodlights destroyed the crops is totally in conflict with biological and physical theories.

With the installation of state-of-the-art environmental protection equipment, a high-standard management...

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