KARACHI, Aug 21: Federal Minister for Ports and Shipping Babar Khan Ghauri has said that the Sindh government and the city government should look into the issue of extensive discharge of untreated sewage, domestic waste and industrial effluents into the sea and take appropriate steps to check marine pollution.

Without the support of both the governments, the Karachi Port Trust or any other authority could not protect the coastline and beaches against pollution, he said, adding that it was the responsibility of both the city and provincial governments to check the extensive discharge of industrial and municipal waste into the sea.

The minister expressed these views while talking to newsmen after chairing the first meeting of the Marine Pollution Control Board at the Karachi Port Trust head office on Friday.

The board was reactivated after the senate standing committee on the environment put forward its recommendations on Karachi coast and harbour areas to the prime minister in 2006.

Mr Ghauri said: “I have been told that there has been diversion of about 411 million gallons of untreated waste water from Karachi city to the sea everyday, which definitely calls for a comprehensive strategy and remedial measures before it is too late.”

He said that not only the foreign shippers but also the Pakistan Navy had complaints about transportation and operations in the context of the prevailing status of the sea and coasts.

The minister, who is also the chairman of the Marine Pollution Control Board, said that the participants of the meeting discussed the KWSB’s S-3 (new sewage treatment plant) project plan during the meeting.
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