KARACHI, April 22: While people across the globe were celebrating the 36th Earth Day, about 300 school children had to sit idle as beach-cleaning, a related event, along the Clifton shoreline could not be resumed on Saturday morning due to the midnight knocking down of their camp by a squad of the city government.

Finding it not possible to undertake the beach-cleaning on Saturday, organizers of the Earth Day camp, the Karachi Port Trust, had informed the schools concerned not to send their students for the third and concluding day proceedings, but about 250 students from two private schools reached at the Liaquat View, Clifton, near Boat Basin police post.

Besides participating in the beach-cleaning activity, the students were to attend the concluding functions, where they were supposed to be admired and given gifts and prizes for what they undertook as their moral obligation towards a better environment, said an eyewitness. An art competition on the theme of Earth Day was also to be held at the KPT camp.

Already about 650 children, representing seven schools, had participated in the camp which was inaugurated by KPT Chairman Vice-Admiral Ahmad Hayat, on April 20. “We had decided to wind up our beach-cleaning campaign on April 22 (Saturday) to mark Earth Day,” said a KPT official, adding that Federal Minister Babar Khan Ghauri was to be the chief guest at the ceremony and he was also to distribute certificates among children.

The demolition squad’s bulldozers entered the camp area at around 3am and started dismantling the camp, despite being told that it was all temporary arrangement and tents, tables, crockery and tools were to be removed from the place in the evening, claimed the official.

It was learnt that the squad demolished some other permanent structures, including a police post, in the area during the operation.

Talking to Dawn, KPT Director Administration Brig (r) Iftikhar Arshad Khan said that the demolition squad, which worked under the instructions of DCO Karachi, broke down the marquee, along with the stage, tables, chairs and other arrangements made for children, without any warning.

KPT also lodged an FIR immediately while damage assessment was under way, he said, adding that KPT had organized the event synchronise it with Earth Day and to highlight marine pollution concerns.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for the city government has clarified that the removal of tent was not a deliberate attempt. The high-ups in the city government had talked to the KPT authorities and allowed them to make arrangements for the function within the Clifton Beach Park area.

The spokesman said that a team had gone to the area to demolish a structure being used as a police station, which had been standing on the land reserved for the Clifton Beach Park. “During the operation, unfortunately, the loader or tractor disturbed a portion of the marquee installed close to the structure,” he stated.

Events to mark Earth Day are observed every year since April 22, 1970, when about 20 million Americans had held a rally to highlight the concerns about what is happening to the earth, rivers, lakes and air. The theme for Earth Day 2006 is ‘climate change’. To mark the day, the department of environment and alternative energy and the Sindh Environmental Protection Agency hanged about 1,000 banners for creating awareness in people about the hazards of polythene bags, in collaboration with multinational companies.

The banners were hanged at main Zamzama, Khadda Market, McDonald to Seaview, Shahbaz Commercial Streets and their surrounding areas, as well as Sharea Faisal, Abdullah Haroon Road, Dr Ziauddin Ahmad Road, Tariq Road, Karsaz Road, University Road and other areas in the city.