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KARACHI, Aug 22: The Sindh Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) has warned that the air in and around the coastal zone affected by the oil-slick contains odourless elements that are extremely harmful to health.
These deadly elements cannot be detected only by inhalation, it said.
“Though we have not established monitoring centres along the coast, we are continuously monitoring the air quality along the Karachi coast and maintaining the data,” an official of the agency told PPI on Friday. He said that the harmful substances from the crude oil were constantly getting evaporated and mixing up into the air causing pollution.
The official indicated that while Pakistan was yet to have its own air quality standards, those of the WHO regarded the air quality in the coastal areas as polluted and attributed this to the continuous spillage from the Tasman Spirit that ran aground off the city’s coast late July.
He said that due to the pollution at dangerous level and other hazards, the SEPA was not declaring the coastal areas safe for beach visitors and residents of the nearby localities.
He denied that the city government had approached or consulted the agency before allowing the reopening of some 24 government and private schools in the coastal areas. He insisted that children must be kept away from the affected area until it was officially declared safe.
The SEPA official criticized universities and other educational institutions, as well as the PCSIR and SUPARCO, for not initiating research, monitoring or data collection in the slick-hit zone and the nearby areas and said that various government agencies were engaged in this vital field despite paucity of funds.
EXPERTS: Environmental experts point out that neither the SEPA nor any other government or private institution/organisation in Karachi had the equipment or facilities to measure the air pollution and air contents.
They believe that crude oil contains over 50 per cent volatile compounds which evaporate at various temperatures and cause air pollution.
“Unfortunately, majority of petroleum gases and components of crude oil are odourless and they include methane, propane, butane, benzene and toluene. They cannot be detected by smelling,” a petro-chemical engineer, Waseem Siddiqui, said.
Crude oil is a highly complex compound evaporation of which depends on temperature, wind velocity and some other factors, he said.
Another expert, Dr Saeed Khan of the NED university said that that the city government, KPT and SEPA should realize their responsibility and involve experts from academic institution to monitor the extent of air pollution.
“Only after continuous monitoring and research, the coastal area can be declared safe for people, especially children, and that can only be undertaken by researchers, experts and concerned departments jointly,” he added.
DHA: The Defence Housing Authority (DHA) is fully aware of the gravity of the situation arising out of the environmental and ecological degradation of the port city due to the unprecedented oil spillage off the Karachi coast.
This was stated by the DHA Administrator, Brig Maqsood Hussein, in a statement here on Friday.
He feared that the spillage, which had specifically affected the entire DHA coastline, besides being a grave hazard to human and marine life, might worsen the situation due to the prolific leakage of a substantial amount of leftover crude oil from the Tasman Spirit.
The DHA executive said the oil continued to litter different parts of the DHA beach destroying the natural beauty of the coastline and exposing the residents to health hazards owing to air pollution and stench of the petroleum slick.
He pointed out that the long stretch of the beaches of Clifton and Seaview, once a lifeline recreational spot of the metropolis, had turned almost black with the thick layer of the oil.
Defending the DHA decision to close its site for further dumping of contaminated material, Brig Hussein said that dumping operation of hazardous waste could not be allowed to continue incessantly in DHA area because of a paucity of dumping area and the obvious pollution hazards involved.
He divulged that as per the decision of a conference held in Governor House, the city government had been asked to identify a permanent landfill for the dumping of material from the slick-hit beaches. He expressed the hope that the dumping problem would be resolved soon.
Brig Maqsood said that a team from England, deputed by the International Tankers Owners Association for undertaking the mammoth beach-cleaning operation, had called on him in his office and sought certain equipment, such as dumpers, loaders, etc., and contracted manpower.
Recounting the DHA’s measures pertaining to the medical facilities and other assistance extended to the people affected by the oil slick, the DHA administrator advised general public to contact the office in-charge for help on telephone Nos. 5382170 and 0300-8206229.
The DHA has also made arrangements for the distribution of handbills among the residents about the hazardous effects of the spillage and precautionary measures.
Brig Hussein said that the DHA would seek damages from those responsible for the disaster. He also pledged provision of funds for the renovation and resurrection of the affected beaches as well as for the rehabilitation and wellbeing of the victims.
KU: In order to study various aspects the ecological disaster caused due to oil spill from the Greek-registered oil tanker MT Tasman Spirit, the University of Karachi on Friday constituted a 10-member committee comprising environmentalists, petroleum engineers, microbiologists, marine experts and pharmacists, which would visit the city coastline.
Headed by the KU Vice-Chancellor Dr Zafar Saeed Saify, the committee will visit the site of the spillage to determine the environmental damage, caused by the incident, and to suggest necessary steps to overcome the situation.
According to the KU officials, the committee will review the steps taken so far by the agencies concerned and present its report comprising suggestions and findings about the situation to various concerned departments and agencies.—APP/PPI
