Environmentalists urge Centre to reconsider decision to delete S-III from PSDP

NFEH president calls on PM to fulfil commitment to environmental issues

KARACHI: The National Forum for Environment and Health (NFEH) expressed serious dismay over the deletion of the Greater Karachi Sewage Treatment Plan (S-III) from the new Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP). The forum said that due to the absence of the scheme, the marine and coastal environment of Karachi would continue to be harmed by untreated sewage that is discharged into the sea every day.

In a statement issued on the eve of World Environment Day, NFEH President Naeem Qureshi said that the federal government should not back out from its solemn commitment to share half of the cost of S-III project as this scheme is vital for reversing the environmental degradation faced by Karachi.

He said that environmentalists in Karachi, who were all set to mark World Environment Day, would surely be dejected after learning about this latest government decision. “A government, which conducted a countrywide tree plantation campaign and came to power to fight the issues of environmental pollution and climate change, should not delete the S-III scheme, which is solely meant for safeguarding the Karachi’s marine ecosystem and environment,” said Qureshi.

He said that the Sindh chief minister had rightly pointed out in the recent meeting of the National Economic Council (NEC) that the deletion of the S-III from the PSDP was tantamount to penalising the people of Karachi.

Qureshi said that the continued financial support for schemes like S-III would simply prove that the federal government’s claim that it was genuinely concerned about the issue of environmental degradation in Karachi and was also taking practical steps to reverse it. “But when support and commitment are absent, then it simply means that the government is doing mere lip service,” he said.

“On the one hand, our PM seems very concerned about Karachi’s environment when he emphasises on adopting a new master plan for the city and promoting urban forestry, but on the other hand his government altogether deletes a vital scheme like S-III from the PSDP”. He added that the PM should know the issue of environmental degradation in the metropolis could never be reversed if 450 MGD of sewage continues to be dumped into the sea without any treatment.

Another massive source of environmental pollution was the discharge of untreated industrial effluents from industrial estates of the city, said Qureshi, adding, “Equally damaging is the undue delay in completing the scheme to build combined effluent treatment plants at industrial estates of the city”.

Qureshi said, “Now, with the S-III scheme altogether dropped from the federal developmental plan, it is feared that serious deterioration of Karachi’s environment would become irreversible”. He called upon the related environmental activists, researchers, scientists, and like-minded non-governmental organisations in the city to come together and jointly raise their voice in favour of the S-III scheme and demand its restoration the new annual developmental plan.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 5^th, 2019.