KARACHI: The Port Qasim Authority (PQA), in what seems to be a risky endeavour, is likely to reserve berths three and four for coal-handling, which will endanger the natural habitat of both land and sea and increase emission of particulate matter into the air, environmentalists said.
According to the proposed plan, the authority will put a conveyor belt from the berths to the warehouse for the coal transshipment, coal imports will be made from South Africa to run the Sahiwal Power Plant as a part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). The plan showed that the coal would be brought in open mother vessels to berths three and four, from where it will be taken to the stockyard through a conveyor belt spread over 4.5km.
The conveyor belt will pass through the North Western Industrial Zone (NWIZ). From the stockyard, the coal will be sent to Sahiwal by rail. However, the environmentalists believe that the project was a faulty one as it lacks a thorough environmental assessment as well as approval of main stakeholders.
Industries in the area are skeptical of the plan. The Bin Qasim Association of Trade and Industries (BQATI) has been quite vocal in urging authorities stick to the original master plan which did not envisage any conveyor belt. It is believed that coal dust will damage the industrial units. Many industries use fine stamping dies. Sheet metal stamping press shops work at very high Gross Stroke Per Hour. Concentration of coal dust will contaminate their lubrication and damage the press and dies.
The proposed conveyor will dissect the industrial zone. Food, edible oil, gasoline and pharmaceutical companies are located on either side of the belt. If it is installed, coal dust will also devastate the habitat. The conveyor belt is also passing over PARCO oil pipelines at four different places. No precautionary measures have been taken to avoid coal or oil spill, said one of the stakeholders.
The project also ignores the fact that Pakistan International Bulk Terminal (PIBT) is solely responsible for coal transportation from port to storage yard. It has enough capacity to meet the requirements of coal-handling of up to 20 million tons annually. So there is no need to waste a good amount of resources by earmarking two coal berths in the presence of PIBT and also in a seismically active zone which will endanger its stability, he added.
An Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) report is usually submitted before launching any such project. Last time, in 2012, it was documented by PIBT and approved by the Sindh Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA). This time it was done by NESPAK which is also designing the conveyor system. As such, the authenticity of the EIA becomes highly questionable.
The, PQA needs to stick to its original master plan and make sure that transportation of coal is done by rail instead of the conveyor belt as approved by the PIBT four years ago. A new competent environmental consultant must also be hired to carry out a strategic environmental assessment.