ISLAMABAD - Out of 741 cases registered during 2008-09 against the factory owners for not complying with the National Environmental Quality Standards (NEQS), 339 have been settled while remaining 402 cases, including 34 cases of the Capital, are still under litigation process of the Environmental Tribunals, TheNation learnt on Saturday. According to details, the federal and provincial environmental protection agencies filed about 741 cases in the Environmental Tribunals against the industrial units during 2008-9 for improving disposal of factory waste in the country with a view to control environmental pollution in the country. An official in the Ministry of Environment stated that out of total registered cases against industrialists during 2008-9, 339 cases have been settled whereas remaining 402 cases are in process of legislation. Of the unsettled cases, he said 34 cases were filed from the Capital City, 300 from Punjab, 30 from NWFP, 9 from Balochistan and 9 cases were filed from the Sindh province. It is to be mentioned here that waste management and preventing or abating pollution are two of the fourteen core programme areas of the National Conservation Strategy (NCS) of Pakistan approved in 1992. The 1997 Pakistan Environmental Protection Act is also provides for the protection of environment, pollution control and the promotion of sustainable development. Section 11 of the Act clearly prohibits any discharge or emission into the environment with levels above the existing National Environmental Quality Standards (NEQS). About existing NEQS another reliable source in the Environment Ministry said there are so many things that have to be added in environmental standards for making these measures more practical for controlling pollution of factories. It has also been learnt that the existing NEQS are being re-examined for making them industries specific. Keeping in view generating reports of the emissions level (environmental data) of factories, and further sending the same to Environmental Protection Agencies (EPAs) for compilation and analysis, the self-monitoring and reporting (SMART) nation-wide programme was formally launched by the Ministry of Environment on March 8, 2006. The ministry's officials claimed that they have long been pursuing the industrialists to follow such rules, which would not help only in safeguarding environment of the country, but would also ensure compliance of their factories as per global standard. They also informed that so far 95 industries have been registered and these industries are reporting their pollution levels on regular basis duly verified by the certified laboratories to provincial EPAs. However, on condition of anonymity, an official source of the ministry informed that this programme was not very effective. He maintained that there were at least over 10,000 factories operating across the country and if 95 factories voluntarily registered under this programme. "In addition to that Federal and Provincial EPAs have no sufficient recourse or environment certified laboratories for proper implementation of such types of projects," he added.