PHOTO: INP
Proponents anticipate that the pilot project will be complete by the end of the year and the EIA report and other necessary formalities will be completed before launch of operation.
Inland Water Transport Development Company (IWTDC) Coordinator Jahanzeb Akram told The Express Tribune that all parallel works including building of river ships, construction of jetties and surveys for deepening of water channels, etc are under way simultaneously and the EIA will be ready before the project becomes operational.
The executive director of Global Change Impact Studies Centre, a research arm of the ministry of climate change, Mehmood Nasir said environmental impact studies and environmental management plans were mandatory to be submitted in environmental protection agencies (EPAs) before the launch of such projects.
He said to discipline a river for massive transportation of goods needs a superb engineering structure as fuel and lubricants (along with sewage discharged from boats) could spill out in the waterway.
IWTDC Manager Operations Abdul Ghafar said the first phase will cover an area between Attock city and Daud Khel in Mianwali District and claimed the navigation activity will not disturb the aquatic life. He said fish growth will increase due to the shipping activity as water muddle will stir different things including mud and silt to help generate food for fish and other aquatic creatures.
“The ships will be of international standards and oil will not spill through their engines. Ships’ sewage will be disposed of at harbours in separate streams which are specially being designed to dump it,” Ghafar said.
A source in the climate change ministry claimed there were cement and fertiliser factories in Daud Khel and a majority of them are owned by an influential Lahore-based businessman who has close contacts in the power corridors and the project was being set up to facilitate transport of his goods to other cities of Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.
Ministry of Climate Change Biodiversity Director Naeem Ashraf Raja said “no one can trample environmental laws which make it mandatory to carry out environmental impact assessment before starting any project”. He added that issues related to environmental degradation and loss of aquatic fauna and flora must be addressed properly.
IUCN Pakistan Coordinator and wildlife expert Malik Ghulam Sarwar said the EIA of the project should be completed to assess its impact on environment, ecosystem, and biodiversity.
“The first stretch of the project from Attock to Daud Khel is of immense value for the ecosystem functioning and maintenance of biodiversity in the area,” Sarwar said.
He added that biological diversity is about more than plants, animals and microorganisms and their ecosystems --- it is about people and our need for food security, medicine, fresh air and water, shelter and a clean and healthy environment to live in. He expressed his apprehension that modification in the water path will lead to high salinity in some areas and the water table will decrease and lead to pollution.
He said many land wildlife species depend on banks and shallow waters for breeding and no study has been carried out to gauge the outcome of such projects on land wildlife species. He also said that water quality will also be affected due to mixing of nutrients caused by large ferry movements and oil spill, among other related things.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 7th, 2015.
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