Atika Mansoor (October 19) has raised a genuine issue and suggested an adequate and reasonable remedy to save the country from the hazards of sewage water and translating challenge into opportunity by treating it with the help of bioremediation technology. Central Punjab has the distinction to be the most populated region of Pakistan. It is also a predominantly industrial area. Unfortunately, neither industry nor the provincial government is alive to the need of properly treating the sewage water and the industrial effluent. This waste ultimately reaches to the wetlands (streams, canals, rivers, lakes etc.) and in its journey to the Arabian Sea affects the health of humans, flora and fauna. But all of its six nullahs fall into the Ravi which has become, thanks to the criminal neglect of the concerned authorities, the most polluted river of the country. Similarly the Sialkot and Kasur are known for the tannery industry and also for having the most contaminated water channels and the soil. If it was enough, the country has had allowed free use of DDT and other poisonous pesticides for agricultural use. The water and soil is so much contaminated that the scientists say the country needs a whole decade to clean the mess, and that too is possible only if the job begins immediately. Previously no serious effort was made to treat the sewage water and industrial waste. But now when indigenous technology is available and, as the writer has pointed out it is cheap, nothing should prevent the polluters to correct their ways and the environmental agencies to get the law implemented. IFFAT QADEER, Lahore, October 21.