KARACHI: Although the reports regarding mysterious smell enveloping various city localities went viral on social media on Thursday, different government organisations, however, did not provide any clue as to what caused the ‘smell’ or, in fact, if there was any smell at all.

Responding to Dawn’s queries, Abdul Rashid of the Pakistan Meteorological Department said that he had also heard reports of smell but it had nothing to do with the weather. However, there was a possibility that the reported smell could be coming from huge heaps of garbage or from the fish being dried in coastal areas, if the air was coming from that side, he added.

But it would also have a localised effect and could not spread to different parts of the city, he added.

Responding to this reporter’s queries, a Sindh Environmental Protection Agency official said that he had also heard reports about the smell, but it had nothing to do with the environment.

It could be a possibility that some kind of a spray might have been carried out to control chikungunya, he added.

Responding to Dawn’s queries, the Sindh government’s focal person on chikungunya Dr Masood Solangi denied that the department had carried out any special spray campaign in the city.

He said that the department conducted sprays in the areas where chikungunya had been reported. He made it clear that no special medicine or chemical was used in the chikungunya spray so it had no special and different smell. He said that even the concentration level of the chemical was common and if more concentrated chemical was used, it would be harmful for human health, as a case had been reported in a Punjab school where more concentrated chemical was used owing to which many students had fainted. He added that the spray could not be spreading the smell in different parts of the city.

Published in Dawn, June 2nd, 2017