Judicial commission takes notice of increasing harbour pollution

The Supreme Court-mandated judicial commission, which has been looking into the Sindh authorities’ failure to provide clean drinking water, better sanitary conditions and a healthy environment to the people of the province, has taken notice of the harbour pollution due to direct discharge of industrial and municipal waste from different parts of the city into the sea.

The commission, headed by Justice (retd) Amir Hani Muslim, observed during a briefing on Tuesday given by a Headquarters Commander Karachi representative that harbour pollution was horrible, and inaction on the part of different stakeholders had multiplied the issues of pollution.

It observed that none of the departments was discharging its lawful duties with regard to stopping the harbour pollution that was increasing day by day. It said inaction on the part of the departments had resulted in a great loss to the national economy on account of falling foreign exports and sanctions imposed by the European Union and the US on the export of fishing.

The commission observed that the most disturbing aspect was that constant flow of untreated waste was permanently damaging the marine life. It added that national strategic escalation/platforms were also exposed to destruction, and filth in the harbour had been added because of the direct discharge of industrial/municipal waste from different points of Karachi.

It observed that the issue of harbour pollution needed to be addressed on a war footing, and called the chief secretary, the commander Karachi, the chairman of the Karachi Port Trust and others so that appropriate/immediate steps could be taken to resolve the multiple issues.

The commission called the CS, the KPT chairman, the trade and development, maritime affairs, local government, industries, and fisheries and livestock secretaries, and others on June 30.

The representative of the Headquarters Commander Karachi, Captain Rizwan Ahmed, briefed the commission about the harbour pollution. The commission had already directed the industries situated at the Port Qasim Authority Zone to install the required treatment plant in their factory premises within three months. It also issued notices to other factories whose owners or representatives did not appear, and called them through the SHOs and SSPs concerned.