Intermittent ‘gas leaks’

This seems to be a failure to nip things in the bud. Since December 2019, reported leakage of toxic gas has killed 20 persons in various areas of Karachi. In all, 472 persons have so far been affected by the gas reportedly leaking from ships loaded with soyabean docked at the Karachi Port. The situation took a turn for the worse in February this year when 450 persons fell sick in different areas of the city after they inhaled the toxic gas. Fourteen of them died. In December last year, two persons died by the alleged gas leak and 22 others were affected.

Now once again areas close to the port have been experiencing gas leakage, which has so far claimed four lives in Keamari. Twenty others have been affected. Following this development a team of experts from the Sindh Environmental Protection Agency inspected facilities at the Karachi Port where soyabean is being unloaded from a ship. Its findings confirmed a high concentration of particulate matter and soyabean dust in the air in and around the port. In a letter on Dec 24 sent to the Karachi Port Trust chairman, SEPA described the handling of soyabean at the port as unsafe, and the latter attributed deaths and health complications in the vicinity to the toxic gas. SEPA has asked for immediate stoppage of unloading and handling of soyabean.

However, the warning from SEPA has gone unheeded as unloading of soyabean has been continuing. Since Dec 17, about 18,000 tonnes of the commodity have been unloaded. KPT authorities claim that the unloading is being carried out in an environmentally-friendly manner. Health experts have confirmed the presence of toxic gas in the atmosphere, saying the source of gas could be either soyabean or benzene. They stress the need for identifying the gas. Timely action in such situations is necessary to prevent further harm. In the Bhopal gas leak, there had been unmistakable signs of a major disaster taking place. Repeated warnings were ignored, and the tragedy happened.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 27^th, 2020.

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