DREDGING DEEP INTO NATURE

In the drive to increase economic activity, the impact on nature often takes a back seat. Pakistan is responsible for less than 1% of the world’s Green House Gases, yet it is the eighth most vulnerable nation to the climate crisis.

In 2022, Pakistan experienced its worst flooding in decades. Entire villages were wiped out, lives were lost, and people’s homes and livelihoods were in jeopardy as a result of unprecedented rainfall. Massive storm water surges swept across a defenseless landscape, natural or otherwise, inundating about a third of the country.

Therefore, it stands to reason that Pakistan has indeed fallen victim to climate change, caused primarily by massive emission-happy developed economies (in both East and West) of the world, which is arguably the main culprit for natural disasters, including rapidly changing weather patterns, flash flooding and torrential rains.

However, in the case of Pakistan’s manmade changes to coastal regions which are exacerbating coastline erosion through the destruction of natural coastal habitats in the name of development, dredging practices to deepen shipping channels and filling in wetlands, Pakistan is very much a perpetrator and not the victim.

The global economy relies on seaborne trade to fuel worldwide growth and in furtherance of that objective, continuous technological advancements enhancing cost-effectiveness have birthed larger, more efficient vessels, creating the need to deepen river beds and aquatic highways to provide sufficient access. At some point, almost all major ports in the world have required dredging to enlarge access passages for larger vessels to dock.

Dredging is carried out to remove unwanted deposits from waterways. However, even though the activity is a regular practice and aids in marine traffic, it is not without its dangers. Unrestricted dredging poses a massive threat to aquatic flora and fauna and if not carried out sensibly, can spell long-term disaster for the marine environment.

Changes to the sea floor from dredging may impact underwater currents in unexpected ways. A change in currents can have disastrous effects not only on the navigation and docking of vessels in the channel but can overwhelm and erode natural and even man-made structures. An example of this would be Pasni Harbor where less than adequate hydrological studies underestimated the impact of changing currents from construction activities, which eventually resulted in the entire harbor being silted and eventually becoming naturally sealed.

Dredging to make space for deeper vessels or reclamation in our wetlands to build high-rise residential buildings creates instability in the coastal belt resulting in coastal erosion and mangrove deforestation.

Dredging kicks up sediment in the waters under its effect increasing turbidity (being cloudy, opaque, and thick with suspended matter). This poses an additional challenge for marine life relying on clarity in the waters for survival in order to feed.

Pakistan has been blessed by natural shoreline barriers, with mangroves acting as the first line of defense against any coastal disaster, such as stormwater surges, tsunami waves, and flooding. Mangroves are nurseries that sustain numerous endemic species of Pakistan. They break the impact of water surges minimizing inland water damage and serve as a valuable source of nutrition for our local communities who derive a large chunk of their food supply and incomes from fishing to keep themselves afloat.

Regardless, mangroves’ role in protecting and sustaining Pakistan’s shores is widely acknowledged. However, the local marine life, its human dependents and the larger habitat may be put at risk from further disturbance and ingress arising from construction and dredging, with the possibility that many sea species in the region may end up going extinct.

It is mind-boggling that a new and substantially large dredging contract is being contemplated by Port Qasim to accommodate larger vessels in DP World Terminals. This proposed dredging project would destroy precious mangrove habitats and ecosystems in the Indus estuary.

Is Pakistan prepared to renege on its promise to plant 10 billion trees across the country? Undertaking this damaging dredging project will set a wave to reverse all sustainability commitments the country has made. Would we be signaling to our future generation that the environment is just an inconvenient by-product at the expense of insensible and unjustifiable infrastructure developments?

How can we put ourselves in a position to ask the western world for reparation as we did at the COP27 Conference for their expansive carbon footprint when we are not mindful of protecting our own natural habitat and resources?

Damaging our environment, and adulterating our beautiful coastal regions and the many elements that depend on them is unacceptable. We must do our best as a nation to preserve Pakistan’s natural prestige along with the unique ecosystems that dot the coastlines and waterways of this beautiful country. If we don’t owe it ourselves, we at least owe it to our future generations.

Protecting Mangroves

• Pakistan mangrove cover increases dramatically in two decades
• Port Qasim is blessed with the best mangrove forest in Pakistan

Whilst on a recent trip to the Port Qasim channel, I happened to recall that according to the data gathered by the Government of Pakistan, between 1999-2021, the vulnerable mangrove area along Pakistan’s 1,050 kilometer coastline had increased from 46,000 hectares (over a 113,000 acres) to over 200,000 hectares (over 494,000 acres). The term mangrove is said to have come to English from the Portuguese mangue or the Spanish mangle.

The International Day for the Conservation of the Mangrove Ecosystem is celebrated on 26th July annually and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Pakistan has observed that Pakistan is the only country where mangrove cover has increased dramatically over the last two decades. This is indeed one of many success stories of Pakistan that deserve to be highlighted.

It has been observed that there are approximately 110 species of mangroves found all around the world. They occur worldwide in the tropics and subtropics and even some temperate coastal areas, mainly between latitudes 30°N and 30°S, with the greatest mangrove area within 5° of the equator. The preferred environment for mangroves includes saline/brackish water usually near the edge of the river or swamp water and low-oxygen soil. There are four types of mangroves in Pakistan, of which 90 percent of all the mangroves are composed of the Avicennia marina species. These four types are:

1. Avicennia marina – Grey Mangrove – White Mangrove
2. Rhizophora mucronata – Loot Roop Mangrove – Red Mangrove
3. Ceriops tagal – Spurred Mangrove
4. Aegiceras corniculatum – Black Mangrove

Mangroves are significantly important for marine ecosystems and are considered the first line of defense against cyclones, strong surges, tsunamis and other natural calamities.
Over the past several decades, the coastal area of Sindh, particularly the port city of Karachi, has been reeling from a relentless process of morphological changes mainly due to anthropogenic activities including industrial pollution, soil erosion, deforestation, rapid industrialization, urbanization, and land degradation in addition to natural processes.

God has gifted us mangroves at Port Qasim and I can somewhat benchmark what I saw at the Sundarbans forest at Mangla Bangladesh, where some local inhabitant animals were spotted whereas we mostly have sea birds inhabiting our mangroves.

Port Qasim lies in or Indus river delta, thus brackish water helps in mangrove growth and sustainability. Pakistan did make a record of planting mangroves near Ketibandar but their growth has been very slow as the area lacks brackish water due to low discharge at the Indus Delta.

I admire an environmentalist lady journalist on the leading TV channel and architect cum environmentalist who had documented how to protect and recognize mangroves by airing concerns on electronic media. There is also a sizable mangrove forest at Bundal Island and some on way to Sandspit from Keamari.

Port Qasim is blessed by God to have the best mangrove forest in Pakistan. When we speak of the Blue Economy, we may also consider building resorts for tourists at Port Qasim Mangrove Forest in a controlled manner so as not to harm the environment. Yet, also make the area accessible and available to the public who can be educated about the importance of mangroves. Thus making them stakeholders in the efforts towards protecting these forests.

Port Qasim gets silting to keep water brackish thus it is imperative to dredge about 5 million cubic meters annually to maintain the depth of the channel at 12.5 meters. The soil excavated from such dredging could be used to rejuvenate those areas of the forest where erosion has occurred the most. It is well known that Khalifa Point was the most suitable site for a second port but for reasons best known to the government of the time, Port Qasim was selected as Pakistan’s second port. This was a decision that is now proven to have been a bad one.

I recently attended a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Maritime Affairs where the topic of discussion was mainly business related. I would suggest that the committees and forums at the national level also regularly take up matters of environmental significance that have an impact on our environmental integrity. During the said meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Maritime Affairs, I suggested that PNSC may embark upon feeder service by acquiring four to five hundred TEU ships that may call at Port Qasim and also cabotage to Karachi, thus reducing road and terminal congestion and reducing emissions causing pollution and availing logistic benefit cutting the cost.
On the business side of things, it may not be denied that Pakistan’s logistic cost is the highest in the region while we continue to fail to use available inland waterways and sea mode being the cheapest mode of transportation. This cost is not limited to monetary costs but also includes environmental costs. We use rickety old trucks which are road diggers and cause pollution. This was conveyed to the Senate Standing Committee and the Chairperson was very gracious to listen to the recommendation.
It is hoped that in addition to planting more mangroves, we may also consider other means by which to contribute towards arresting the perineal degradation of our environment. If not done so, then we remain guilty of leaving Pakistan susceptible to the adverse effects of global warming. I strongly recommend that Pakistan should increase the use of transportation of cargo by sea instead of by land wherever possible. PNSC Feeder container services will give a kickstart to learning box trade by PNSC which is so vital to our economy.

(The writer is an advisor to the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry). He can be reached at   captshah1@hotmail.com, captainanwarshah.blogspot.com)