Murky waters

Blackish grey sand and greyish blue water is typical of Karachi’s Sea View and Clifton beaches. Stinking smell that greets the beachgoers from very far is an additional hallmark. All this because all the sewage that this city of some 20 million souls generates ends up in these waters – utterly untreated. And it’s been happening for years and years with criminal apathy on the part of the caretakers of this so-called jewel in Pakistan’s crown. Let it be known that under Section 11 of the SEPA Act, 2014, untreated waste – whether solid or liquid – cannot be disposed of into the sea.

Strangely though, the vast inter-connected drainage system in Karachi is designed to carry both sewage and rainwater into the sea untreated. See how: most of the underground sewerage lines in Karachi lead to some 64 big open drains which are supposed to take the wastewater to the city’s two major streams known as Malir River and Lyari River. Both the rivers flow south to the sea. Besides, five more major drains directly lead to the backwaters of Mai Kolachi. Besides, under a regular practice during the monsoon season, drains are opened onto the seashore to release the rainwater – which turns toxic while making a move and accumulating at places – into the sea. In the wake of the heavy rains that lashed the city in August, as many as six such drains have been opened onto the Clifton beach to provide an outlet for the rainwater that had nowhere else to go.

It goes without saying that the city’s drainage system has been the biggest contributor to the sea pollution. Temporary solutions to dispose of the wastewater are not just affecting seaside residents and beachgoers, but the marine life as well, thereby damaging the whole ecology. It’s about time the Sindh government focused on introducing water treatment facilities. Singapore can be a model to follow which treats every single drop of water for reuse.