Pakistan: Lahore's Ravi among most polluted rivers

A study on pharmaceutical pollution of the world's rivers conducted at the University of York and published by Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the US detected pharmaceutical particles including paracetamol, nicotine, caffeine and epilepsy and diabetes drugs in the river, reports Dawn newspaper.

Rivers in Pakistan, Bolivia and Ethiopia were among the most polluted while rivers in Iceland, Norway and the Amazon rainforest fared the best.

Samples for the study were collected from more than 1,000 test sites in more than 100 countries.

Overall, more than a quarter of the 258 rivers sampled had what are known as "active pharmaceutical ingredients" present at a level deemed unsafe for aquatic organisms, read the study.

The study says the increased presence of antibiotics in rivers could also lead to the development of resistant bacteria, damaging the effectiveness of medicines and ultimately posing "a global threat to environmental and global health".

The study found Lahore's river Ravi the most polluted in the world posing a 'threat to environment and human health', the Dawn reported.

Environmentalist Afia Salam expressed concern over the latest findings and said the Ravi had been turned into a drain with human and industrial wastes. “We have laws about dumping wastewater and industrial wastage but no law is being implemented in the country.”