It has become our hallmark that either we do not sense the danger at or remain unresponsive until it starts looming at our head.

We did exactly the same with the oil tanker Tasman Spirit carrying over 67,000 tonnes of crude oil, which ran aground off Karachi on July 27 and broke apart on August 14th after flooding a long stretch of coastline with a layer of around 26,000 tonnes of oil which due to the lethargic action of the KPT has turned into one of the worst environmental disasters of the entire region.

As a matter of fact, all our concerned authorities realized the gravity of the situation very late, although the local media and some of the NGOs were beating the drum to draw the attention to the fact that oil spill is threatening the entire coastal ecology, marine life and health of people living atthe beach. The official response, instead of initiating a swift rehabilitation drive, was either to ignore the news or to belittle the extent of this disaster.

The standard official response was to assure the people that every thing was under control, and that they had nothing to worry about. It was strange how the authorities, including the Sindh Environmental Protection Authority, kept harping that no harm was done to the ecology. The entire affair of handling this accident was literally stinking. The circumstances leading to the grounding of the tanker are unclear even now after a lapse of more than a month.

Most sordid episode of this affair was that these false claims continued even when electronic media started showing scenes of dead fishes and turtles on the sea shore and people undergoing medical treatment at various hospitals from having inhaled toxic fumes of crude oil. These images of course revealed some of the immediate impact of the oil spill. The long-term consequences are yet to be determined.

No doubt that an inquiry committee has been set up to determine the causes of this disaster but it is very unlikely that any thing would come out of it as almost all the members and even the chairman of the committee are those who have been hiding facts of this disaster and covering up their failure to deal with this national catastrophe. What is required is an impartial inquiry committee that comprises technical as well as environmental experts.

This is the worst disaster of its kind faced by Pakistan, and has again underlined the woeful lack of preparedness to deal with such emergencies as well as the lack of concern that characterizes the official attitude to people’s welfare.

We have seen many times before that whenever a calamity strikes us, be it floods, heavy rains or earthquakes, we seem totally unprepared to handle it and the first official instinct is to cover up the failures. Rescue attempts are then undertaken and a face saving inquiry is held that never brings us any closer to either pinpointing the blame or evolving precautionary steps for the future.

This ecological disaster could have been avoided by prompt and serious efforts, at the outset, by the agency concerned. Had the KPT acted quickly, they may well have emptied the ship within a week’s time. The failure of KPT for not acting promptly to prevent the leakage,exposes the fact that it has neither the capability nor any equipment to handle such a crisis.

The oil slick has destroyed million of mangrove seedlings which could be seen engulfed with the thick black crude oil. Mangroves are the breeding grounds of commercially important species like prawns, shrimps and crabs. As a consequence to the oil spill, mangrove trees will ultimately wither and die, and the production of these sea food species will dwindle. It would be interesting to recall that a few years back, two oil spills near the Port Qasim had badly affected mangrove forests in a vast area but hardly any worthwhile step was taken by the agencies responsible for the control of marine pollution.

Almost all the affected area of this spill is the habitat of small fish that has either died or migrated, causing the country’s fisheries an irreparable loss.

Besides, the two rare breeds of turtle which come to the area during August and September to lay eggs may have either been died or permanently quit the site. The oil slick had literally wiped out the small fish that were abounding in shallow waters of our affected beach.

The negative impact of this disaster may not be immediately visible on the marine life. It is difficult to establish that what exactly is the nature and extent of the damage. Harvesting of fish and shrimps in coming years could well disclose the true story and damage. With the resources and capabilities we have with us, we can’t quantify the actual loss incurred by this ecological, environmental and economic disaster right now.

The city administration though has collected countless small and medium size fishes which were scattered around the Clifton beach and DHA area and layers of thick oil on the shore but the condition of the sea beaches is so bad that it may take months to return it to normal position even after the claims of the administration that all recreational activities at the beach will be restored within a month. The World Health Organization (WTO) has reported in its recent report that it may take a decade before ill effects of this oil spill disaster are completely removed from our beaches.

It is required to dispose the oil-sticking dead fishes very carefully because if some how this contaminated fish waste is used by unscrupulous persons in poultry feed, then the toxic oil contents may get their entry in human bodies through chicken which they eat thereby disturbing the entire food chain badly.

The debris and sand mixed with the crude oil is being removed from affected areas for safe disposal to a land fill site near Surjani Town, but this disposal which is without proper treatment is being questioned by the environmentalists. They are of the view that the oil has soaked around a meter into the sand and the only way to clean it is to remove the sand, wash it with de-emulsifying agents, and mobilize a large work-force to physically and manually clean the coastline. Keen environmental observers claim that cleaning operation has not been put on right direction so far.

Moreover, food scientists and environmentalists are of the view that use of chemical dispersant for containing the oil spill is a short-term remedy as chemical would settle oil on the sea bed and may be detrimental for aquatic life. They are of the view that biological or mechanical treatment through skimmers should have been adopted which is more effective as far as marine life and human are concerned.

The unending disaster at our coast is now threatening Pakistan’s Rs8 billion annual seafood export trade. The country had already suffered a lot due to a ban on its seafood products by the European Union in the recent past because of environmental pollution in its port area.

It is apprehended that the oil spill would cause enormous losses to fishermen communities in terms of employment. The immediate consequence is a three-month ban on fishing which will badly hit the fisherman and their families.The Karachi Fish Harbour caters to the needs of around 2,300 boats having an annual catch of around 650,000 tons of fish and shrimp.

There are also some apprehensions that since the fish and shrimp breeding season is still on, most of the fingerlings (baby fish), which normally stay near the coastline, might have been killed. It is said that the Clifton beach is highly productive area for local fishermen and was a source of livelihood for a large number of small fishermen. Apart from it all economic activities at Clifton beach have ceased to exist due to this disaster.

Internationally, ships causing oil spill bears all cost connected with the oil spill. The tanker Exxon Valdez which on March 24, 1989 ran aground and spilled thousands of tons of oil causing serious pollution in Alaskan waters was held responsible for the pollution and the owners had to pay the full costs amounting to little over two billions dollars for cleaning the entire beach. Pollution at sea, or in port, is a very serious matter worldwide and must not be taken lightly any way.

It may be of great interest for all readers that once in August 1980 one of the sailor of a Pakistan Navy ship stationed at the harbour of New Port, Rhodes Island (USA), threw a tin of a soft drink in sea. To the surprise of the entire crew, a team of the harbour pollution control board of the port came within minutes, literally pinpointed the responsible sailor and fined $500 to the Pakistani ship for polluting the water. The amount, which was beyond the financial capacity of the sailor, was paid collectively by the crew members. The story was narrated to me by a retired commander of the Pakistan Navy who was present at the ship that time.

This story must be an eye-opener for us as we have been fined even for throwing an empty can into the sea whereas when our sea is polluted, the most-visited recreational spot of the city is closed and whole of our sea food export is put at stalk, we are working modalities as to when and how much fine the polluter tanker.

The Karachi port handles majority of our sea-borne trade.It is prone to such accidents in future as well. In coming years port activities are likely to increase further as land-locked Central Asian countries are viewing Pakistan as a conduit to handle their foreign trade. In these circumstances our port authorities are needed to be properly equipped to deal with such a disaster.

This incident also warrants the need to enter some oil-spill compensation legislation which facilitates emergency response and help in case of pollution.

Besides, there is a need to act strictly for obtaining the objectives of International Convention for Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL) and Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping Wastes and other Matters that Pakistan ratified decades ago.