KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) has sought comments from the Karachi Port Trust (KPT) on an application of a coal importer, seeking permission to dump 20,000 metric tons coal at KPT’s coal terminal.
Applicant Awan Trading Company (Private) Limited moved the court, submitting that a vessel carrying over 50,000 metric tons the coal is due to arrive at the Karachi Port on Sunday. A vessel carrying over 40, 000 metric ton coal cannot be berthed at Port Qasim, therefore, if the vessel is once allowed to lighten its weight approximately 20,000 metric tons, it can berth at Port Qasim.
Therefore, the counsel for the applicant requested the court to allow the applicant to dump 20, 000 metric tons of the coal at KPT’s coal handling facility.
After preliminary hearing, Justice Sajjad Ali Shah, who headed a division bench, issued notice to the KPT to file their response to the application.
Earlier, the bench while hearing a petition against KPTs coal terminal for posing serious threats to the health of the area’s residents and causing marine pollution had directed KPT authorities to adopt various preventive measures to ensure minimum eruption of dust from the terminal.
It further ordered them to ensure that the premises where the coal was kept, as well as the vehicles transporting the coal, should be completely covered.
Observing that the terminal is located in close proximity to the densely populated area, the court directed the KPT to allow importers to offload 15,000 metric tons of the coal for only 15 days at the terminal in order to lighten the weight of vessels for their sailing into berth at Port Qasim where the rest of the coal would be offloaded.
The judges observed that meager storage charges are inducing people to store coal for longer period of time which is causing pollution and effecting public at large. Therefore, they said, they feel that some stringent measures be put in place to compel importers to remove stored coal within shortest possible time.
The court had ordered imposition of penalty of Rs20 per metric ton per day upon failure of the importers to remove the coal within 20 days of storage. The penalty should be recovered and deposited with the Nazir of the court.
It may be mentioned here, that the Sindh Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) director general had informed the court that KPT coal terminal was established in Shireen Jinnah Colony without adhering to the environmental laws which not only constituted an environmental hazard but also posed serious threat to health of the workers and people living in the vicinity.
Naeem Ahmed Mughal, the SEPA director general, submitted in the report that the whole process from offloading of the coal to its dumping and transportation to different industrial units involved serious environmental hazards. He added that during inspection, it was noted that the coal material which was found on the berth and jetty flowed into the port waters during washing or at the time of rainfall, causing marine pollution.
He said during the transportation of coal through heavy vehicles from the terminal to coal yard, covering distance between 3 and 4 kilometer, dust was flown into the air due to open trucks causing air pollution throughout the route. “It is obvious that hundreds of people in this particular location could be affected from respiratory, eye and other diseases due to the air pollution containing coal dust particles.”
