Three-member body formed to control marine pollution

A three-member high-profile committee has been formed to compile a report on the progress of the Greater Karachi Sewage Treatment Plan S-III. The mega project is expected to save the sea from solid and liquid waste, including the waste generated by industries.

The committee will also suggest other measures to control marine pollution that has turned into a serious issue. The body includes Karachi Port Trust (KPT) Chairman Vice-Admiral Shafqat Javed, Pakistan Fleet Commander Admiral Arif-ul-Hussaini and a representative of the Sindh government nominated by the chief secretary.

The committee will submit its detailed report within the next fortnight to the federal and Sindh administrations. This was disclosed to the media by Federal Ports & Shipping Minister Hasil Khan Bizenjo at the KPT head office on Tuesday after he presided over a meeting of stakeholders to discuss issues relating to marine pollution caused by civic and industrial waste from the city.

The meeting was also attended by Ports & Shipping Secretary Khalid Pervaiz, General Ports & Shipping Director Asad Rafi Chandna, Admiral Hussaini, Vice-Admiral Javed, Pakistan National Shipping Corporation Chairman Arif Ilahi, Port Qasim Authority Chairman Agha Jan Akhtar, and officials of the Pakistan Marine Security Agency and the Sindh government.

Expressing serious concerns over the scale of marine pollution along the city coast, Bizenjo said the Ports & Shipping Ministry, the Pakistan Marine Security Agency, the Sindh government and other related agencies had decided to expedite work on the S-III project and other initiatives aimed at checking marine pollution along the city’s coastal line.

After submission of the report by this newly formed committee, he would seek a meeting with Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah to discuss and finalise a joint strategy to effectively address the aggravating issue of marine pollution.

“We shall convince the federal and Sindh governments to focus on this issue and pool up their resources to keep our sea clean, which has become very dirty and polluted.”

He admitted that it was a huge task and required vast resources. He also sought the media’s help to promote awareness about marine pollution among the masses.

In response to a question, Vice-Admiral Javed assured that all possible measures were being taken to contain the pollutant effects of the imported coal stock being handled at the KPT.

“These include construction of walls and installation of nets around the coal stock to save the people living in the vicinity and the marine life from pollution.”

He informed the meeting that in the near future a proper environment control terminal would be constructed for handling coal transportation, which had become a dire need for the industries as well as energy generation.