LAHORE: As many as 250 tanneries of all sizes are operating in residential areas of Sialkot and are discharging their effluents without treatment, Environmental Protection Agency’s Punjab Director General, Farooq Hameed Sheikh said on Tuesday. Briefing a review meeting related to the Sialkot tannery industry at the office of senior assistant to chief minister on environment, Manshaullah Butt, Hammed Sheikh said the Punjab government had decided to shift the entire tannery industry outside of the city. He further said that 384 acres of land in Muaza Khambarrawala has been purchased for the purpose. The Punjab government has also decided to provide interest-free soft loan of Rs 30 million to tanneries for the establishment of new tannery industry at Khambarrawala, he added. staff report