Lost treasure

I am writing with a heavy heart about the heart-breaking state of Karachi’s beaches. Once a place of serenity, where families enjoyed picnics and children built sandcastles, our coastline is now drowning in garbage. The sand that once sparkled under the sun is now littered with plastic bags, broken glass, and industrial waste. Every day, Karachi generates about 12,000 tons of waste and nearly 40 per cent of it remains uncollected. Where does most of it go? Straight into our sea. According to the National Institute of Oceanography, 90 per cent of the waste on our beaches is plastic, which does not just look ugly but also chokes marine life and takes centuries to decompose. To make things worse, over 500 million gallons of untreated sewage and industrial waste are dumped into the sea daily, turning our waters into a toxic soup.

We see social activists organising clean-up drives, but how long can a handful of people keep up when the problem keeps growing? Why isn’t there a proper system to stop this mess from happening in the first place? If this continues, Karachi will not only lose its beaches but also its connection to the sea, a part of our city’s identity. I urge the authorities to wake up before it’s too late. We need strict regulations on waste disposal, proper recycling facilities, and a ban on single-use plastics. I hope to remind both the people and the authorities that Karachi’s coastline is not a dumping ground, it is a treasure. And if we don’t act now, we may never get it back.

Noor Fatima

Karachi