Environmental accidents and disasters wreak long lasting health and economic damage not only to their unsuspecting victims but to the entire nation.
A year has passed since the tragic oil spill on our shores was caused by Tasman Spirit, a Greek oil carrier. Not only were the losses suffered by the residents but a great deal of marine life was lost and continues to be affected to this day. The oil spill will inevitably enter the food chain and affect humans as well.
There will be considerable loss of tourism and interest in our beaches due to their loss of natural beauty. Further, mangrove forests near Karachi, which serve as a food source for many marine and aquatic life forms, will die once the spill reaches them.
Thus, the economic losses already suffered due to food shortages, unemployment and loss of exports will continue to affect Pakistan, not just the local spillage area.
The ensuing action taken by Karachi authorities was not only delayed and ineffective, but was also done with a great deal of indifference to the poor and the weak community of Surjani Town Area.
The dumping of the oil-polluted sand caused a large number of health issues ranging from skin related to immune deficiency causing diseases. The spraying of emulsifying agents merely caused the oil in the sea to sink further and destroy all possible life forms in the vicinity. The Federal government did little but watch on the sidelines.
Who is to say how our common people will be compensated and treated for this apathy meted out to them? What will our officials do when the next environmental accident or disaster strike? Will they sweep the issue under the rug and apologise later?
What are they doing now to confront the long- term issues like monitoring and restoring the affected areas? All of the above concerns about the evolution and extent of the damage remain speculative in the sense that there is no systematic investigation or reports that have emerged after a year from any corner.
In reflection of the whole incident and its aftermath, it is quite evident that environmental issues rank quite low in priority amongst the general public, the industry and at all levels of the government.
Indeed, pointing fingers will get us nowhere. Wishful thinking and forgetfulness will not save us from other potential disasters in the making. Hence, the concerned public and authorities should remember the Tasman spill and learn thoroughly from this mess caused by lack of awareness, apathy and short-sightedness.
The authorities should chalk out effective plans for dealing with the next disaster or accident should it arise in the future.
These include mobilising local expertise which includes Departments of Environmental Science and Engineering, Microbiology, Molecular Genetics, Chemistry, Biology and all related departments at our universities. Proper scientific solutions should be formulated by an inter-disciplinary approach to such complex problems.
These departments should hire foreign expertise and professionals to educate them on the latest counter-measures and long term safety procedures. The incident serves as a genuine case study to all such academic institutions to learn, solve and propose long term solutions to not only this problem, but also to other scenarios that may arise later.
They should release reports which indicate the current extent of damage caused by this spill and reveal a proper plan of action for local authorities to implement.
Further, any contaminated material that arises out of a disaster must be isolated with full scientific procedural application of hazardous materials and waste. It should not be dumped into the open air or considered harmless by treatment of traditional or even more dangerous materials (as limestone and emulsifying agents were used in the Tasman Spirit spill).
To emphasise, an environmentally safe solution should be sought. This will require an interdisciplinary union of local expertise, state of the art knowledge from experts and authorities that understand well enough the importance of quick, effective action towards such dangerous problems.
In conclusion, all of us should remember the Tasman Spirit tragedy in the broad perspective of an environmental disaster. Such disasters are complex and have far -reaching implications; hence, their proper treatment is critical for our survival as human beings.
It is in our national and global interests that we treat every future environmental incident with preparedness, correct technical expertise and true commitment from all levels of authorities rather than wishing it away.
Otherwise, a pileup of such incidents and similar treatments to our ecosystems will cripple our population, trigger further natural disasters and tear down hopes towards meaningful progress.
(The author has worked as a consultant engineer in Southern California, USA, specialising in air pollution control. He is currently a part of Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics faculty at the University of Western Ontario, Canada.)
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