KARACHI: Senate body seeks NECP meeting on harbour pollution
By Iftikhar A. Khan
ISLAMABAD, May 30: The Senate Standing Comittee on Defence and Defence Production has urged Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz to immediately convene a meeting of the National Environmental Protection Council (NECP) to discuss pollution in the Karachi harbour and areas around the PAF bases in the city.
Talking to Dawn after a meeting of the committee, Chairman of the Senate body Nisar A. Memon said the committee had not met for the last couple of years.
The NECP is an apex statutory body presided over by the prime minister and entrusted to coordinate and supervise enforcement of the Pakistan Environmental Protection Act, and to approve comprehensive national environmental policies and quality standards.
Mr Memon said the committee discussed in detail the report of the sub-committee of the standing committee on pollution in the Karachi harbour and areas around the PAF bases in Karachi. He observed that the NECP should meet to consider the recommendations and formulate an action plan in their light.
He said all the stake-holders had been given five days to have a look at the set of recommendations and suggest further improvement. He said after that the report would be presented in the Senate and made public.
He said the members of the committee who visited the Karachi dockyard and other military installations in Karachi in December last concluded that a lot of material at the Karachi harbour was being damaged by liquid as well as solid waste around important military installations in Karachi.
He said it was basically the responsibility of the district government to take steps to address the situation.
He said the committee underlined the need for chalking out a vibrant coordination mechanism to check the rising pollution in the harbour and areas around the PAF bases in Karachi to avert losses of both men and material while carrying out operational activities.
It was observed that there was no need to enact more laws as many laws already existed regarding pollution on land and in harbours. However, there was the need to implement the existing laws in letter and spirit to control the menace of the environmental degradation.
The committee also called for enhanced coordination among bodies such as the EPA, the district government, the Pakistan Air Force and the Navy.
The report of the sub-committee containing 17 recommendations was discussed at length and it was decided that all the stakeholders should give their suggestions for resolving the issue before finalisation of the report.
The meeting was attended by Senators Naeem Hussain Chatta, Syed Dilawar Abbas, Rukhsana Zubairi and Sardar Mehtab Ahmad Khan. Minister of State for Defence Ali Asjad Malhi and senior officers of the PAF, Pakistan Navy, Maritime Security Agency and Ministries of Defence, Environment and Ports and Shipping were also present.
