Kano communities groan under filth from tanneries

More than 150,000 inhabitants are at the risk of the pollution while arable farmlands had been rendered non-productive by the contaminated water from the tanneries.Investigation by Daily Trust revealed that some of these tanneries just release the waste water without treating it with the recommended chemicals to disinfect and make it harmless for both the […]

More than 150,000 inhabitants are at the risk of the pollution while arable farmlands had been rendered non-productive by the contaminated water from the tanneries.
Investigation by Daily Trust revealed that some of these tanneries just release the waste water without treating it with the recommended chemicals to disinfect and make it harmless for both the environment and people around the area.
Contrary to the laid down regulations and the authoritative ways of treating the water, some of the factories are said to have developed the habit of disposing the water late in the evenings, taking people and the monitoring officials unaware of their defaulting attitude.
While responding Malam Garba Gambo, village head of Yandanko community, said “we are tired of attending to visitors in respect with the waste disposal issue, because visitors approached us for no less than twenty times, but we are yet to see any action to solve our problems.”
He said their major concern is the bad stench from the industrial water, which he said “is killing us in silence,” because according to him, since the local people do not frequent medical doctors to access their health status, this means most of the deaths could have been due to long term effect of the pollution from the waste.
He added that the water also breeds special species of mosquitoes, which are bigger and more deadly. The village head also complained that the tanneries are totally indifferent and careless about their sufferings. He said apart from the tanneries, other factories in the area have been relating well with the communities, because they do not indulge in similar habits of polluting the environment.
Malam Gambo urged the authorities concerned to come to their aid by addressing the matter and taking punitive and corrective measures against the industries.
Daily Trust also learnt that farmers in the area have lost their farmlands to pollution and land erosion caused by the industrial waste.
Malam Abdu Ibrahim Gidan Kara, a farmer at Yandanko village, told Daily Trust that he no cultivate longer sugarcane during the dry season, because of the huge damage caused by the waste on his farmland. “I used to gain as much as N 50,000 Naira each season from sugarcane farming, but now I am out of business due to the waste water from the companies that destroy my farm,” he said.
Others affected by the waste water are sand excavators, who scoop sand and sell for construction purposes. Some of the sand scoopers stated that the river bank which serves to them as the sole place they relied on to earn their livelihood, is always being contaminated by the industrial discharge.
Malam Ayuba Idris, a resident of Panshekara told Daily Trust that the waste water contaminates their major source of potable water, since the waste drifts into the river which also serves as the source of pipe-borne water used by the state ministry of water resources. He therefore urged the government to prevail upon the industries owners to ensure they follow the approved ways of treating and disposing their wastes.
 Malam Mustapaha Tukur of Gasau village told Daily Trust that “we are the worse victims of the waste water because we are the closest people to the tanneries. Most at times, the gas emitted from the waste worsens the situation for asthmatic people.” He said they have no better means of channelling their grievances.
Another resident of Gasau village, Malam Zubairu Tanko said the waste water causes them a lot of harm both on their health and on their environment. He said he has seen some people vomiting as a result of the strong odour from the waste, adding that “sometimes one has to take a tin of milk, which we buy at the cost of 120 Naira. How many people can afford to spend that amount of money every day?” He asked.
Village head of Gasau, Malam Muhammad Tukur Usman said he recalled that in the past ten years when he was yet to become village head, his father has initiated a move of parleying with the tanneries owners.
He said since the first sitting and after writing some agreements, the factories owners are yet to implement all what they have agreed upon.  He said the only alternative now was to continue urging on the government to checkmate the activities of the industries owners on the issue of indiscriminate waste disposal in their areas.
The National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) recently shut some of the tanneries for in environmental bad practices. But these companies were reopened by people believed to be officials of the state government.
The shutting of the tanneries by NESREA according to sources at the agency was as a result of pollution of the only source of water supply for residents of Challawa and Panshekara.
According to Alhaji Sambo Illyasu, a resident of Challawa District, Kano, NESREA had reacted strongly once the report emerged that unusually high levels of industrial pollutants have been noticed in the reckless discharges of effluents into the major river in Kano.
“These effluent discharges with high levels of dangerous chemicals if allowed to persist may result into a tragic development of sudden deaths and this must not be allowed to happen!  This is the reason for the palpable fear in Kano and why the residents have sent out this S-O-S to the Federal Government: unless they intervene, an epidemic outbreak is imminent,” Illyasu said.