Sir: The drowning of 36 people off Clifton beach has opened a Pandora’s Box of accusations and counter-allegations between civic bodies and the government organisations that carried out the land reclamation. The land reclamation alongside Clifton Marine Drive has resulted in the elimination of a very long strip of natural beach. Experts and NGOs have raised the matter at different forums. They had pointed out that reclaiming land would lead to geophysical changes, but the institutions involved in the land reclamation chose to ignore the ecological and environmental destruction caused to the coastal belt in Clifton. Surface dredging in the sea and that too along the beach to reclaim land is certainly going to cause voids as well as ditches alongside the beach. This created the deadly traps which allowed the sea to claim so many lives. Land reclamation is done all over the world but after proper studies that determine sea or ocean behaviour. Nowhere in the world are beaches that are extensively used like Clifton, eliminated for the sake of commercial development. Proper protection techniques are ensured where such developments are planned.The most common technique these days is deep-suction dredging that ensures large-scale reclamation from the sea. However, land reclamation along Karachi’s coastal belt was done through inappropriate techniques like surface dredging and excavating popular and extensively used beaches.A multi-billion rupees commercial development project was initiated at the cost of the Clifton beach owing to which more than 50 percent of the beach has been eliminated. The result is serious design and construction flaws.I appeal to all concerned to help return the historic coastline to Karachi as this is the only affordable entertainment for them.Faiz KidwaiKarachi