LAHORE - All aquatic life including fish and frogs is at deaths door in River Ravi owning to rising discharge of toxic untreated municipal sewage water as well as industrial effluent in its water body by 15 waste water drains/nullahs of three districts Lahore, Sheikhupura and Faisalabad. About 15 drains are discharging 2,858 cusec untreated municipal sewage water and industrial effluent into the water body of the River Ravi per second making it a big sewage drain. The apprehension is rising that meat and milk of buffalos and other domestic animals found in the three districts along the length of River Ravi is becoming unfit for human consumption because of drinking poisonous water of the river which is toxic enough to threaten all type of life linked to it in any way. The ratio of arsenic, biological and organic waste in the water body of the river has exceeded national quality standards set for the aquatic life. The Ravi flows in 560 km length from District Narowal to District Khanewal in Pakistan absorbing in it the contaminated water of several districts including Lahore which come in it way. The laboratory reports of the Punjab environment department (EPD) reveal that aquatic life needs 5 milligram per liter oxygen in any water body to survive but no oxygen is left in the Ravi water for the aquatic life. Thus all living organisms including fish and frogs die as soon as they reach in the limits of Lahore and Sheikhupura due to addition of industrial and municipal sewage water. The EPA conducted a study of drains which are discharging municipal and industrial water in the Ravi. According to the study Babu Sabu Drain, Lahore, is discharging 270.7 cusec waste water per second in the river, Furukhabad Drain 219 cusec, Main Out Fall Drain193 cusec, Gulshan-e-Ravi Drain 243.5 cuscu, Hudiara Drain 535.7 cusec, Shahbagh Drain 139 cusec, Sukhnehr Drain 313.6 cusec, Buda Ravi Drain 41.9 cusec, Foresh Colony Drain 15.37 cusec, Muhmood Booti Drain 20.87 cusec, Shahdra Town Drain 21.87 cusec, Summundari Drain, Faisalabad, 400 cusec, Deg Nullah/Jaranwal Drain, Faisalabad, 100 cusec, Gojra Drain, Toba Tek Singh, 45 cusec, and Sukhrawa Drain, Shiwal is discharging 53 cusec liquid waste per second in the river. Originating from India, the Ravi enters Pakistan near a village namely Tadyal/Kot Nainan. The Ravis water was ceded to India under Indus Water Treaty. Later in a bid to irrigate the agriculture land stretched along the Ravi, it (Ravi) was given water flow through Chenab River by a system of Link Canal namely Marala-Ravi Link, Upper Chenab (UC) Canal, Dadarabad Balloki link Canal, BRB canal, down stream of Lahore where its water body is getting polluted due to untreated municipal sewage water and industrial effluents. Showing concerns over the River pollution, Punjab Environment Protection Agency (EPA) Secretary Dajjad Saleem Hotiana has written letters to Managing Director (MD) Water and Sanitation Agency Lahore (Wasa), Secretary Industries Punjab, Secretary HUD and PHE Department Punjab, and Secretary Irrigation Department Punjab to take practical steps for stopping flow of untreated municipal sewage water and industrial effluent into the Ravi through various drains and nullahs coming from three districts. A high Wasa official revealed on condition of anonymity that the Punjab government does not have funds to install water treatment plants on the Ravi as cost of one treatment plant is Rs 10 to 15 billion. Six water treatment plants, which were planned by the previous governments could not be installed due to high cost of the plants. He added 7,200 kanal land purchased in 1994 near Babu Shabu for installing a water treatment plant has been handed over to a Japanese firm Jica which will install a treatment plant at Babu Shabu Drain probably till end of 2010. Negotiations are in progress with the French government which will give loans for water treatment plants to save the Ravi from degradation, the Wasa official said.