Karachi: Dead fish en masse found at city’s shores

[Naveed Yaseen]

by Amar Guriro
KARACHI: Thousands of dead fish mysteriously appeared on the shores and waters of the New Channel, locally known as Naeen Naar, located in the backwaters of the Sandspit beach, near Kakapir village late Saturday evening, causing panic among fishermen.

Though several types of fish are among them, but the majority is the Dhanbhari fish that started appearing on the shores. Several fishermen have returned to the shores and stopped routine fishing.

The dead fish found afloat and on the shores are in a rotting state, with no eyes and ruptured gills. Many fishermen say that it’s the deadly industrial chemicals that have killed them.

“The chemical waste from the hundreds of the industrial units including the toxic waste of tanneries has killed these fish. These chemicals are poured in the sea through Lyari River,” said Keamari Town UC-4 Councillor and Fisher folk Development Organisation (FDO) President Abdul Ghani. He said the mysterious appearance of dead fish is not a new happening as every time the level of chemicals increases in the channel, this phenomenon occurs.

He said that a report by International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) stated that thousands of gallons of industrial waste from factories and industrial units of SITE, Orangi and Korangi are being poured daily into the Arabian Sea through natural rivers and nullahs (drains). Lyari River is one of the dead rivers of Karachi. It used to carry rainwater, but with the passage of time, it has been encroached upon. The IUCN report further states that not a single factory has a filtration plant and these factories pour highly toxic industrial waste directly in to the sewerage drains which later enters the Lyari River when it meets the sea near Machhar Colony.

The federal government of Pakistan is celebrating 2009 as the year of environment but nothing has so far been done for the safe drainage of industrial waste.

Karachi is biggest city and industrial hub of Pakistan with five major industrial units but the government has failed to bind these industrial units to filter the industrial waste before pouring it into the sea.

At the government level no any survey has been carried out to ascertain the environmental loss due to the pouring of these industrial wastes into Arabian Sea. The villagers of Kakapir Goth told this scribe that in the past they used to find all types of fish in the waters but now large fish have completely vanished and they totally depend on prawns.

“This has happened due to industrial chemicals and now we do not even have small fish that is used as fodder to catch prawns,” said Ghani.

“Every time these fish started dying mysteriously, no authority even makes the effort of removing them,” Ghani added.

Beside industrial chemicals, oil and other chemical wastes of the Karachi Port are also thrown into the sea that is another major reason behind the increasing sea pollution.

However, Karachi Port Trust (KPT) authorities have denied pouring chemicals into the Arabian Sea and said the dead fish appear because of the annual Red Tide, a phenomenon that happens in the sea and kills several fish.

“The KPT is not throwing chemicals in the sea. It is nothing but the annual Red Tide phenomenon, locally known as ‘Mara Pani’ (killer water) that happens several times,” said the KPT spokesman.

Environmentalist and IUCN coastal expert Tahir Qureshi seconded the villagers’ claims and said that KCDG and KPT authorities have converted the sea into a sewerage drain. “Millions of gallons of chemical waste are being poured into the sea every day that causes the death of the fish population, and also decreases mangroves forests,” he said. Qureshi further said that the pouring of chemical waste into the sea is a disaster and related authorities must ensure that all industrial units filter waste water before pouring it into sewerage drains.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp...009_pg12_2