The Karachi coastline, which stretches over 135 km, is facing
severe pollution due to a combination of industrial, port,
municipal, and transportation activities in the area. The
coastline is being overwhelmed with water-borne pollution being
discharged in the shipping process into the marine environment.(3)
A recent study found that some of the marine life was contaminated
with lead, which if consumed by humans through seafood, has been
linked to anemia, kidney failure, and brain damage.(4) In fact,
the study also discovered that even the mangrove forests---
protecting the feeder creeks from sea erosion as well as a source
of sustenance for fishermen--are threatened by this pollution.
Pakistan is heavily dependent on these mangrove forests to
maintain the ecological balance. For example, the mangrove leaf
litter provides a major source of nutrients. The mangroves
provide a diverse habitat for a complex and interdependent
community of invertebrates, fish, birds, and reptiles; and the
primary productivity of these mangrove-covered deltaic areas is
four to seven times those of coastal areas without mangroves.(5)
Of a global concern is that the South Asian waterfowl seek food and
shelter in these estuaries and mangroves. In addition, most of
the tropical marine--such as the commercially important shrimp--
species seek shelter in the mangroves for one stage of their life
cycles. The shipping industry, through its discharges, water
pollution, and possible leakages and spills, impacts on this
environment.
The greatest pollution occurs at Karachi port--because of its
high usage--from vessels illegally pumping out bilges and refuse at
the port's oil terminal. Sewage and garbage from the visiting
vessels are often uncontrolled and while the offenders are often
fined by port authorities, this has not been an effective
deterrent. Moreover, port authorities are ill-equipped and
inadequately trained to recognize other hidden toxic dumping
activities, such as dumping toxic waste at sea or by leaving
wrongly labeled containers on land. The World Bank noted in an
environmental study that "sewage and toxic matter [pollution in the
Karachi Port] includes (i) toxic effects either direct or indirect
by bio-accumulation of oil, DDT, PCB, and various metals; (ii)
avoidance reaction by fish and shrimp because of poor water
quality; (iii) distortion of organisms and reduction in their
reproduction because of poor water quality and the fact that parts
of the mudflat areas are being covered with oil; and (iv)
increased erosion because dying mangroves can no longer reinforce
the banks with their roots."(6)
The port is also affecting the environment with its heavy
shipping of oil and subsequent dredging activities; traits common
in the shipping industry. Due to country's spiralling dependence
on oil imports, oil is one of the major cargoes imported at the
port. However, an estimated 90,000 tons per year of oily
discharges are pumped out within port limits and there exists no
oily ship waste reception or treatment facility within the port.(7)
In addition, a common environmental problem associated with the
shipping industry, dredging, is having a major impact. Dredging is
the process of removing the silt buildup in the port from the
entering and exiting of the ships. The dredged material is dumped
out to sea to maintain the port. However, there is no system for
monitoring trace metal in the dredged spoil which is likely
further deteriorating the environment.
A significant percentage of the coastal pollution is
contributed when the export industries ship their goods through
the Karachi Port. The port induces polluting industries to set up
shop nearby in order to expedite exportation. The pollution from
these industries is affecting the environment because much of the
factories' effluent is untreated and released directly into the
port area. The 1991 Pakistan National Environmental Plan
estimates that three main coastal industries located near the port
with the largest volumes of effluents are the steel mill, power
plants, and refineries and notes that many smaller industrial
units are having more significant polluting effects on the marine
environment. In 1992, a United Nations study noted that the
"concept of wastes recycling, treatment, and disposal does not
exist in the industrial sector [in Pakistan.] Even the highly
polluted wastes are being discharged irrationally into water
bodies, on soil and in the air...industrial waste treatment systems
are virtually non-existent in the country and those existing in a
few industries, either technically do not meet the requirement
standards or they are out of use or are nonoperational."(8) With
scarce national government policies on environmental controls, the
industries are able to dispose of the waste the cheapest way for
the company (which translates into dumping into the sea.)
In addition to the growing export industries contribution to
the pollution, trade activity in the Karachi Port is expected to
rise steadily. Pakistan's total seaborne trade is about 32 million
tons per year and is expected to maintain an average growth rate of
about 4.5 percent per annum.(9) Moreover, because "recent changes
have led to a major realignment in trading patterns in the region
leading to the expansion of the Economic Cooperation Organization
(ECO) to include the Central Asian states and Afghanistan along
with Pakistan, Iran, and Turkey...Pakistan stands already committed
to provide a suitable deep water port for the landlocked countries
of the ECO."(10) The steady push for increasing the capacity of
the port facilities is likely to only increase in the near-term.
Without improvements as outlined in the above paragraphs, however,
the upsurge in the shipping industry, and therefore pollution, is
likely to overburden the environment along the Karachi coastline.