Daily Times

A large number of residents of Ghaghar Phatak, Gulshan-e-Hadid, Pipri and Malir including women and children took to the streets on Saturday to protest against the illegal dumping of coal near Railway Colony, Ghaghar Phatak.

The protesters, hoisting placards and banners, blocked the National Highway and chanted slogans against the dumping of coal near residential areas.

Addressing the protest, Rajhan Thebo, Nizam Arejo, Mumtaz Ganghro, Arshad Arejo, Din Muhammad Rajpar and others said that a private transport company that carried imported coal from Port Qasim was not just violating the rules but also posing a threat to the local community.

“The company was bound to carry imported coal from Port Qasim to different cities of Punjab through train, but instead of transporting coal in train, the company made an illegal dumping site beside Railway Colony near Gaghar Phatak. The company loads the coal into the train later” explained Rajhan Thebo, a protesting resident.

Thebo said that the company could load imported coal inside the port but it was transporting it through open trucks and dumping it near Railway Colony in order to save money. Thebo explained that the company loaded the coal onto the train later on.

According to Rajhan Thebo, the company was transporting coal in open trucks and dumping it in an open ground near a residential colony. He added that this was posing serious health problems to the residents of the area.

“People of nearby residential areas are suffering from respiratory diseases because of coal dust,” said Din Muhammad Rajpar, another protester. Rajpur said that international protocol dictated that companies transport coal either through a train or a closed truck but a private company, in violation of the rules, was using open trucks to transport the imported coal.

He said that using an open truck to carry coal was not just posing a health threat to the residents of the area but it was also causing many accidents. He explained that the coal being transported through open trucks often fell on the roads and caused accidents.

The protesters demanded that the authorities put an end to dumping of coal near residential areas. They also demanded that the relevant authorities keep a check on the private company dumping coal in their region and ensure that it transported coal according to the law.

The protestors warned to keep on protesting if their demands were not fulfilled.

Earlier, on June 23, a three judge bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice (CJ) Mian Saqib Nisar had directed the concerned authorities to ensure that open coal was not being stored anywhere in Karachi. The bench comprising of the CJ, Justice Sajjad Ali Shah and Justice Munib Akhtar had also asked the authorities to check the transportation of coal. The bench had directed the authorities to ensure that companies transporting coal in the metropolis were using proper blankets to retain the moisture in coal to prevent coal dust.

Published in Daily Times, July 8^th 2018.