Volunteers collect garbage bags during Karachi beach cleaning

Citizens advised to bring change in lifestyle by encouraging use of recycled products

KARACHI: More than 800 people, including students, volunteers and concerned citizens, participated in a beach cleaning activity on Saturday. A total of 140 garbage bags were collected from six-kilometre-long coastal line during the campaign. The clean-up drive was initiated by WWF-Pakistan at Sea View, Clifton, Sandspit and Hawkes Bay beaches. "Plastic pollution is damaging our freshwater bodies and oceans. It poses a serious threat to both freshwater and marine life," said Dr Babar Khan, WWF-Pakistan Sindh and Balochistan regional head. Therefore, he added, "We need to take this issue seriously and act now before we lose the rich biodiversity".

According to experts, plastic consumption is increasing day by day. Environmentalists have always demanded a ban on its production, sale and use.

While speaking to the media Khan said, "Plastic pollution is adversely affecting the sea birds, turtles and other forms of marine life". He called for discouraging use of single-use plastics and promoting sustainable food consumption.

The students and volunteers emphasised on the need for every citizen to make lifestyle changes, like recycling more or drinking from reusable water bottles, at an individual level. "Such small acts can have great impact and help conserve nature," one of the students said.

It is estimated that around 450 million gallons of untreated waste from industries in the city enters into the Arabian Sea every day. However, there are no current estimates on the composition of the waste that enters the sea. Plastics on the beach left by picnickers and beachgoers are carried with water currents to the sea and harm marine life. Sea turtles, which come for nesting on the Sandspit and Hawkes Bay beaches are affected by the plastic items which they mistakenly assume as food and ingest it, which causes them to choke and die.

Recent studies by WWF-Pakistan show that a significant number of marine animals were found entangled in plastic products by fishermen who hauled them in their nets. To conserve the green turtles and other marine life, WWF-Pakistan has been organising similar clean-up activities on beaches along the coast of Pakistan.  

Published in The Express Tribune, April 28^th, 2019.