News
Karachi seashore to be cleared of dead fish by today: KPT
KARACHI: In reaction to the discovery of hundreds of dead fish in Karachi’s Keamari Harbour on Saturday night, Dr Saghir Ahmed, provincial minister for Environment and Alternative Energy, said that marine pollution was not the cause of their death.
He stated that these fish were thrown by fishermen from their trawlers. Nonetheless, he said that specimens have been sent for a laboratory test to ascertain the real cause of death.
Meanwhile, the officials of Karachi Port Trust (KPT) have said that the site would be cleared of the dead fish today (Monday).
Saghir Ahmed also promised to issue a complete report on the matter, which would be disclosed to the public after the completion of the official investigation. He directed his staff to remain in contact with the officials of Marine Department.
However, he said that the recent rainwater might have carried harmful chemicals to the sea resulting in the death of fish.
Corroborating such a point of view, Tahir Qureshi, Director, Coastal Ecosystem, the World Conservation Union (IUCN) based in Pakistan says that, “About 300 million gallons of untreated industrial and municipal waste is thrown into the Arabian Sea every day”.
The callousness of an indifferent bureaucracy, he said, has transformed Karachi Harbour into a septic pool.
The role of trawlers, if any, in relation to the discovery is still unclear.
According to sources, fishing trawlers, which are supposed to operate beyond 35-miles of the coastal belt, violate all sorts of laws unabashedly thanks to weak surveillance network and a corrupt bureaucracy, which tacitly allows the owners of these trawlers to go unpunished.
Courtesy Geo