Diverting dirty cargo

LAHORE: There are numerous environmental issues in Pakistan ranging from disposal of industrial waste to the handling of cargo at our seaports. This not only impedes exports, but also taxes the health of our citizens.

Many small textile units have gone out of production because they could not afford installing a water treatment plant. Common affluent treatment plants are almost non-existent in our country.

The state continues to develop industrial estate all over the country, but none has been equipped with a common water treatment facility. The cost of common facility is small when compared with cost of common treatment plant.

In fact, the government could include the cost of industrial waste treatment plant in the development charges of each estate to ensure its timely instalment. Pakistan’s apparel exports would double in a year if water treatment facility is made available to the industrial estates.

The government could then charge the operational and maintenance charges from each industry according to its discharge of affluent. Another point worth noting is that most of the industries that do have affluent plants discharge the treated water in the polluted and filthy water channels.

The treated water could be reused in many cases or it could be used for irrigation. We are wasting our precious resource by discarding the treated water. Many industries in Lahore still throw their industrial waste in the canal that pollutes our pure water channels. It badly affects the health of our population.

Moreover, due to the pollution caused by our transport and smoke emitting industries, a large segment of the population has developed breathing problems. The pollution caused by mishandling of cargo at our seaports is a curse for the inhabitants of Karachi and areas surrounding it. Most of the pollution is caused by handling of imported coal at Karachi Port Trust (KPT).

The Supreme Court took notice of this menace and ordered that the imported coal must be cleared at dedicated terminals equipped to handle dirty cargo through sprinkles and dedicated storage facilities.

Coal is one of the cargoes that is designated as dirty cargo. The others are coke, cement, and clinker. The Pakistan International Bulk Terminal now handles 8 million tons of imported coal at its terminal. The three power plants, each producing over 1,300MW have installed special handling equipment at their jetties.

Each handles four million tons of imported coal annually. These plants include the Sahiwal Coal Plant, Port Qasim Electric and China-Hubco plant established under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC0. Thus, 20 million tons of dirty cargo is taken care of.

Still coke that is more hazardous than coal is being cleared through KPT. Similarly, clinker export is also executed through KPT. This shows the mentality of our bureaucracy, which should have stopped clearance of all dirty cargoes from all other ports other than dedicated terminals. The reason for getting the dirty cargo handled through KPT is commercial.

The KPT charges less for handling dirty cargo because it executes the operations through normal cranes. In the absence of dedicated equipment, it takes 4-6 days to lift cargo from the ship.

The cargo lying on port for long periods continues to spread coal dust in areas surrounding the clearing port. The dedicated PIBT terminal and the power plants jetties empty the cargo in two days. There is no pollution due to constant sprinkling of water.

The handling charges without dedicated high tech equipment are lower than that at PIBT. The PIBT has been awarded a 30-year contract for handling dirty cargo, but it has to part with 40 percent of its revenue that must be paid to the Port Qasim Authority.

This makes cargo handling more expensive. The port has clearing capacity for 12 million tons of dirty cargo, but it currently handles only eight million tons that too because of the Supreme Court order.

The balance four-million-ton capacity could be utilised if the government orders clearing of all dirty cargo through the dedicated terminal. The state may not give any concession on coke cargo, but for clinker exports it could forgo the share it gets from the terminal operator.

Clinker export is bound to increase as Pakistan’s cement has become cheaper due to rupee devaluation. It is already creating environmental havoc at KPT, but further increase in exports would become unbearable for the citizens.

Why wait for another Supreme Court intervention? It is in the interest of the citizens of Pakistan. The Railways should also be asked to build four kilometre rail line to connect to PITB, as 60 percent of imported coal goes to Punjab.