The delegation of parliamentarians visited mangroves forest along the coast of Karachi. The visit was organized by the Consumer Rights Commission of Pakistan (CRCP) in collaboration with the World Conservation Union – IUCN Pakistan. The delegation comprised on Senator Nisar Memon, Senator Jamal Leghari and MNA Fozia Wahab while IUCN was represented by the Country Representative, Sohail Malik, Rafi ul Haq and Nasir Ali Panhwar. The Project Manager of CRCP, G.N Mughal said that the purpose of the visit was to sensitize the parliamentarians about the environmental degradation in the coastal areas of Karachi.

This would enable them to see the situation themselves and based on it, they would raise the voice in the parliament. During the visit, the parliamentarians witnessed the severity of pollution during their boat journey from Ibrahim Hyderi to Port Qasim. They were shocked to see the series of points from where untreated domestic, industrial and slaughter effluent was drained directly into sea. The delegation was briefed by the IUCN team about the significance of mangroves forests in the coastal ecology and added that due to multiple factors, the area under mangrove forest has decreased alarmingly. In 1966, the area under mangrove was 604,870 hectares, whereas in 2003 it has come down to 86000 hectares only. They were informed that there are over one hundred fish species in Pakistani coast, out of which 25 are commercially important species. The major reason of degradation of mangrove forest was reduction in freshwater flows from Indus and pollution. Every day 104 million gallons municipal waste, 157 million industrial waste is drained into sea. The annual contribution of oil pollution is 1.5 million tons.

There are several laws related to the management of coast, however these needs to be implemented in its true spirit and zeal. They were informed that ecological implications of destruction of margraves include recurrence of cyclone and acidification of soil. They emphasized that main rational of mangroves restoration is to maintain a significant contribution to national economy. The IUCN team highlighted that efforts should be made to treat the effluents at the source, communities should be provided alternatives for reducing their dependence on mangroves, environmental flows must be ensured downstream Kotri for mangrove eco-system and livelihood of people and coastal communities should be involved in coastal resource management at all level.

Later, the delegation was taken to Nahr-e-Khayam, where the waste was drained into China Creek and Layri River, which carries effluents to sea. Speaking on the occasion, the parliamentarians suggested that treatment plants should be established on priority basis to treat the waste of Karachi. They said that if present pattern of pollution is not stopped than the mangroves forest would vanish, which could severely affect the export of fisheries. They emphasized that ecological sensitive development should be undertaken to ensure that nature and natural resources are not affected.