KARACHI: Various concerns of stakeholders regarding the handling of coal at Karachi port were highlighted at a public hearing called by the Sindh Environmental Protection Agency (Sepa) at a hotel here on Wednesday.

The meeting being conducted on Sindh High Court orders saw the presentation of two reports: one by the Karachi Port Trust (KPT) on the ‘Meticulous handling of coal in Karachi’ and the other by coal importers Awan Trading Company and their environment consultants on the ‘Environmental impact assessment of KPT coal yard’.

Presenting the KPT report, marine environmentalist Yahya Usmani agreed that there was a big risk in coal handling and transportation. “But all over the world, coal is the cheapest form of fuel. China, Australia, the US, too, use coal as fuel to prevent the impact of expensive energy on the common man’s pocket. They are using coal after addressing all the issues associated with this kind of fuel. So can we,” he said.

Still some of the major problems faced by the KPT in the matter include the workers being unaware of coal’s impact on their health. “They don’t use the safety equipment provided to them,” he said. “They are paid good salaries. Some even say they feel like they are working in Dubai. Many families here depend on handling of coal as their means of livelihood. When asked if they are facing any health problems like trouble in breathing or irritation in the eyes, they just say no, they are good, which cannot be right. Therefore, consciousness regarding impact of the handling of coal needs to be promoted among the workers,” he added.

About reducing the coal dust fugitive emissions during transport, unloading and reloading to zero, he said they’d have to improve area aesthetics, landscaping and housekeeping. They would have provisions for wind breakers and a boundary wall, spraying water on coal heaps besides reducing the height of the coal stacks at the yard. “As it is,” he said, “KPT has reduced the coal at the yard from 750,000 million tonnes to 300,000 million tonnes in the past 30 days.”

To this, the people gathered at the hearing interrupted by shouting that it should be “zero”. They were politely informed that they would be given a chance to speak later.

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) project manager Syed Nadeem Arif, a consultant for Awam Trading Company, said the KPT handling of coal started in 2003 but the KPT didn’t do any EIA then. He further said the provision of infrastructure at the coal yard was KPT’s responsibility, but when last checked, most things needed simply weren’t there. There was the need for a proper storage area, sprinklers for spraying water weren’t functioning among many other things there, he added.

Saquib Ejaz Hussain, an environmental specialist, said all the problems would have been covered had the EIA been done earlier. He said it was being done only after the court ordered that.

“The air quality has been hurt due to fugitive dust emission during handling and transportation of coal. Men coming to pray at a nearby mosque have complained of blackened clothes. There is also a negative impact on marine life, the leaves of plants have a black coating. Birds and wildlife have abandoned the area,” he said before making certain recommendations such as reducing the height of coal heaps to not more than five metres, installation of built-in sprinklers, wind breakers, covered conveyor belts, a Euro silo open storage technology or a dome technology, a proper drainage system, bigger canopy trees, covered trucks, etc.

Sepa Director General Naeem Ahmed Mughal, who was chairing the meeting, showed his annoyance at not finding anyone from KPT’s senior management at the hearing. “Officers at the GM level or decision makers should have been here,” he said.

He added that when KPT started the handling of coal, the Environment Protection Agency was not informed. “This kind of a hearing was required back in 2003,” he said. “KPT has never cared about the environment laws. They never carried out any kind of environment assessment survey before all this. It has become a tradition with them to do as they please,” he added.

“As for the studies presented, 22 companies here import coal on ships. Doing so, they purchase the coal, hire ships and then after keeping the coal here they transport it to the end users all over the country as KPT itself doesn’t use this coal. Then why has the KPT given 180,000 square yards for just the dumping of coal here. What kind of arrangment do they have with the importers. This intermediate must have a reason.

“Of course, we are not against the import but it should not be done at the cost of the environment and the health of people. Why not directly take the coal to the end user instead of letting it remain here for days? It is not just KPT but all the 22 coal importing companies which have through their actions violated the environmental laws. Sepa will not allow this to happen,” he concluded.

Earlier, when the public was given a chance to have their say, Karamullah Sheikh of PSO said that even more focus on the primary data was needed in the studies presented.

Another gentleman commented that how would they handle Thar coal if at present they couldn’t even handle the transpotation of imported coal. He also spoke of providing compensation to those hurt in some way due to mishandling of the coal at KPT over the years.

Syed Ali Shah of Nespak said that if the study presented was financed by the importer, it couldn’t be called an independent study.

Mian Rasan, a worker, said that no doctor had told them that they were becoming sick because of the coal. “In Pakistan, we cry about two things, lack of livelihood and lack of power and energy. And here we are complaining about something that gives us both!”

Another citizen, Shahid Lutfi, asked if anyone had even calculated the coal lost in fugitive dust emission due to the mishandling. He also wanted to know if they were using plain water or sea water in the handling. “If you are using sea water, then you are hurting the quality of the coal,” he said.

Dr Kazi Ahmed Kamal from Karachi Chamber of Commerce said that why wasn’t there any comparison with India where they had been handling coal for far longer.

Pir Zaman, another concerned citizen, wondered why the Pakistan Navy hadn’t been consulted on the matter.

Gul Mohammad Afridi of the Oil Tankers Association said that KPT had done nothing for coal other than dumping it. “If you take it away to Port Qasim Authority, tell me if they would do anything different?” he questioned.

Sepa assistant director Sunila Abdul Wasiq wanted a timespan within which they could overcome the problems they had highlighted at the meeting.

She also noted that the studies were based more on hypothesis like “we shall” and “we may”, etc.

Representing fishermen, Abdullah Nur Mohammad said that earlier they could fish three to four kilometres from land but at present they had to go very far into the deep sea to fish. Also, the people of Baba and Bhit Islands were falling ill due to too much coal in the air, he said.

Published in Dawn, February 19th, 2015

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