KARACHI: Shipping activities a major cause of marine pollution: Documentary depicts
By Our Staff Reporter
KARACHI, June 26: Shipping activities at the country’s two ports and direct discharge of industrial effluents and municipal waste into the sea are the major causes behind the threatening marine pollution level in the Arabian Sea, reveals a tele-documentary prepared by an NGO.
The documentary on marine pollution, said to have taken eight months to be prepared, holds that the continued deterioration in the coastal water is directly hitting fishermen, their families and the fishing industry.
The 15-minute documentary produced by a group of public and private sector television staffers and researchers, under the banner of the Environment Television (ET), was formally launched at a ceremony held here at a hotel, with Faisal Malik Gabol, adviser to the Sindh chief minister on environment.
According to chairman ET, Shabbir Ibn-i-Aadil, the ET was founded for promoting the cause of environment and creating awareness about environmental issues through television, film and multimedia. “Our’s is a non-profit, noncommercial organization, which has decided to practice conservation addressing the needs of people and nature, and seeks to advance both,” he says.
Though the documentary is not very different from those produced by the state-owned television, there are some sensitive issues and sites not usually covered for any reference purposes. “Muhammad Asghar (a senior cameraman) and others should appreciated for their work.
According to the film, marine pollution in the Arabian Sea is fast increasing due to both marine and land-based activities.
“Over the years the Karachi coast has earned the distinction of being among the “most polluted” in the world. Pollution is affecting the shoreline, including mangroves, and has serious implications on the health of the villagers living along the coastline,” informs the background commentary.
The documentary says that the authorities at the two ports -Karachi and Bin Qasim- are not well-equipped to deal with environmental degradation being caused by the shipping industry. The main sources of pollution are the bilge oil from ships, leaks from bunkering points in the harbour, small oil slicks occurring during loading and unloading of oil at oil piers, pipeline leakage and ruptures.
It further says that Karachi’s five major industrial areas, with 6000 industries mostly located along the coastal belt, generate enough pollution to make life difficult for the 14mn population of he city. The effluent from Pakistan Steel. The Bin Qasim power plant is the main source of marine pollution in the area of Port Qasim, it adds. In his presidential address at the launching ceremony, Mr Faisal Malik said the environmental protection agency of the province was being activated and people would soon see the changes. He added that measures were also being taken to combat the pollution caused by tanneries in the Korangi area.
Country representative of the IUCN, Abdul Latif Rao and Dr Ejaz of the WWF also spoke on the occasion and lauded the documentary which has two separate versions in Urdu and English.
