‘Safety of marine life never a priority for governments’

Karachi
Ocean is the largest ecosystem of the earth and its contribution towards human lift is enormous. About 50 percent of the oxygen on the planet is produced by oceans.
These views were expressed by the acting vice chancellor of the University of Karachi (KU), Professor Dr Ghazala H Rizwani, on Monday during a seminar organised by the Centre of Excellence in Marine Biology, KU in collaboration with the United Nations Educational, Scientific & Cultural Organization (Unesco) on the occasion of World Ocean Day.
“It is our moral responsibility to ensure the safety and protection of the marine life. Environmental pollution causes a major hazard on human health,” Rizwani said.
Professor Dr Pirzada Jamal Siddiqui, the director of the Centre of Excellence in Marine Biology, KU said oceans were the largest natural resource.
“Major hazards to the marine life are pollution, massive exploitation by dumping untreated sewer, and different wastage of fuel,” he said.
“Ocean research requires extensive resources but sadly there are only four research institutes which are working on oceans and marine biology in Pakistan while there are 31 research institutes in India and six in Bangladesh.”
The coordinator to the Sindh chief minister for CM’s inspection, inquires and implementation teams, Muzaffar Ali Shajra, said the safety of marine life had never been a priority by any government.
“Mangrove forests and the fisheries industries have been devastated. We are very rich in natural resources but they are not used efficiently.”
Professor Dr Jamil Hasan Kazmi of the Department of Geography, KU talked on the use of remote sensing and the geographical information system in marine research. He said remote satellite images could help in achieving greater objectives in shorter time.