Unsafe waters

Hundreds of fish washing up along Karachi’s Sea View beach has raised alarm bells about fresh threats to marine life

As if there were not enough issues for the country to fret about, the discovery of hundreds of fish washed up along Karachi’s Sea View beach has raised alarm bells about fresh threats to marine life.

On September 16, a large number of sea creatures washed ashore, causing a concern for the fishermen community, whose livelihood depends on them. While the reasons for this are yet to be known, citizens blame the maritime movement of ships to Karachi’s port and shore, along with poisonous chemical waste and diesel from factories, and disposal of untreated waste into the sea as major reasons behind the incident.

These occurrences seem to have become an annual affair but despite that neither has the federal, provincial governments nor the Karachi municipal authority taken any action against these factories, putting marine life and the lives of citizens who frequent the beaches at a risk.

What is worse is that the failure of authorities to ensure clean and safe water is not limited to Karachi. Recently, a probe into a large number of dead fish being found in the Rawal Dam — the main source of drinking water for the residents of Rawalpindi — found that four people had mixed poison in the water. This was the third such incident that occurred since last year, owing to a tussle between two groups over the fishing contracts in the lake. On the other hand, around 40 storm drains carrying sewage also fall into the dam, along with industrial waste, polluting the dam.

While the government asks the citizenry to donate for the construction of new dams, it ignores the issues in the existing dams and water reservoirs. The Supreme Court’s order of a forensic audit of operations of a private mineral water company and quality check of all major bottled water brands is a welcome move. But this action needs to be stretched across all water governing bodies to ensure a safe flow of water.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 18^th, 2018.

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