Karachi: The Sindh Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) picked over 10 tonnes of municipal waste in a day-long activity near Karachi’s Arabia Sea coastline to mark the World Environment Day on Saturday.
The SEPA officials and personnel took part in the sea clean-up activity using various vessels operated from the ‘Baba’ and ‘Gaba’ jetties in Keamari area of Karachi. The garbage was collected from sea up to 10 nautical miles from the coastline.
Garbage collection vehicles of Sindh Solid Waste Management Board were present at the coast to transport waste collected from sea for proper disposal at the landfill sites near Karachi.
Sindh Law and Environment Adviser, Barrister Murtaza Wahab, Sindh government’s Secretary for Environment Department, Muhammad Aslam Ghauri, Director-General of SEPA, Naeem Ahmed Mughal, along with other senior officials supervised the campaign.
Speaking to media persons on the occasion, Sindh Law and Environment Adviser said SEPA had opted to do the practical work to contribute towards efforts being made to improve the environment.
He said it was much easier to deliver speeches in air-conditioned hotels than to practically take part in the field activity for a good cause.
Barrister Wahab said the beach clean-up campaign had been conducted to make people aware about the need to conserve the marine environment by not dumping municipal waste into sea.
He advised the Karachi Port Trust (KPT) to play its due role.
He decried the fact that oil seepage from ships coming to the Karachi’s port had severely harmed the marine environment near the coastline.
He asked the KPT to perform its environmental obligations more stringently to check the issue of oil leaks.
Barrister Wahab said the SEPA would lend maximum support to the KPT in its drive to protect the marine environment.
Sindh Environment Adviser exhorted people who used the Keamari coast of Karachi for recreational and commercial purposes to refrain from throwing waste into sea for protection of marine life.
He expressed gratitude to the Pakistan Maritime Security Agency, Pakistan Dockyard, and Pakistan Navy for extending cooperation to conduct the sea clean-up activity.
