KARACHI: Beach-cleaning drive not likely this week
By Our Staff Reporter
KARACHI, Aug 25: Any fully-fledged operation to decontaminate the beaches of Karachi, hit by the devastating oil slick, is unlikely to take place before completion of the ongoing lighterage of the broken Greek oil tanker, Tasman Spirit, stranded near the harbour, said sources privy to the operation.
The workers, during the last one week or so, have been removing the oil-soaked sand and debris or scrapping the oil layer in different areas reluctantly and in patches, believing that whatever they are doing today is sure to be washed up tomorrow due to the crude oil streaming out of the sea.
According to a source, the ongoing operation by the KPT, city government and DHA is not up to the mark or as per the environmental standards only because what is being done on beach is undertaken on day-to-day basis.
On the other hand, the port authorities are still unable to officially divulge the quantity of oil spilt into the sea so far. Those close to the salvage and cleaning-up operations believe that over 20,000 tons of oil has already spilt into the sea, either due to cracks in the ship’s tanks or during the lighterage operation.
The salvagers anticipate that the Tasman Spirit would be emptied completely in the next one week or so, provided the weather remained favourable and the vessel, PNS Gawadar, as well as barges and machines involved behaved positively, said a KPT official.
Foreign and local experts on pollution-control have been stressing on a revised work schedule and area of responsibility, but it would be improper to start the beach-cleaning operation afresh till the already spilled oil stopped reaching the beach, said an expert.
During the last two weeks, against all odds, authorities at theKPT and communication ministry have been maintaining that the damage caused by the grounding of the ship, chartered by the PNSC for the transportation of about 67,500 tons of crude oil, was minor in nature and that people should stop worrying as the worst was over.
However, the residents of beach-facing localities, including Sheerin Jinnah Colony, Clifton, Seaview and the DHA areas, have constantly been complaining of worsening situation involving environmental hazards with the passage of time.
“We don’t see an early end to our sufferings as the salvagers and others at the helm of affairs have so far been able so far neither to plug the leakage and contain the spillage hitting the seaside nor to ensure a meaningful cleaning of the beach and restoration of recreational facilities in their respective areas,” opined many of the affected people.
Maritime experts are still not satisfied with the role of different agencies involved in the handling of the Tasman Spirit. They observed that the disaster took place only because the KPT had failed to depute an experienced pilot for the heavily-loaded oil tanker.
NAVAL SHIP: The PNS Gawadar ferried another 500 tons of oil from the broken ship to the Endeavour-II, another big vessel, on Monday. KPT sources hoped that in a cyclic operation, the naval ship and barges would be ferrying about 2,000 tons of oil in a full day operation.
The General Manager (Admn) of KPT, Brig Iftikhar Arshad Ali, told Dawn that aerial spray of dispersants was not carried out on Monday as experts considered it not necessary. However, KPT tugs and boats continued spraying chemicals in the port area to disintegrate concentration of oil.
Meanwhile, a spokesman for the KPT said that a meeting was held in the head office of the trust on Monday to assess the progress in beach-cleaning operation so far and to organize and integrate all the resources for the impending ‘Operation Beach Cleaning’.
The meeting, chaired by Brig Iftikhar, was attended among others by a foreign expert, Hugh Parker, representatives from the Army’s 5th Corps, ComKar, DHA, city government and KPT. The meeting was informed that there was no change in the physical status of the two portions of the Tasman Spirit as they lied in their same position.
KARACHI, Aug 25: Any fully-fledged operation to decontaminate the beaches of Karachi, hit by the devastating oil slick, is unlikely to take place before completion of the ongoing lighterage of the broken Greek oil tanker, Tasman Spirit, stranded near the harbour, said sources privy to the operation.
