KARACHI: A major coal transportation project to be built in the Port Qasim area came under severe criticism at a meeting held on Monday where speakers, most of whom lived in proximity to the proposed project, described it as `an environmental disaster in the offing`.

The meeting, held in Razzakabad at a private community place, was organised by activists and elders of the area and came a day ahead of the public hearing being organised by the Sindh Environmental Protection Agency (Sepa) on the same project.

Highlighting their concerns, speakers said that it was unfortunate that in a situation where public interests were already compromised and people were forced to pay a heavy price for environmental degradation, the government planned to approve another project that would further harm the environment and shrink employment opportunities.

Hazardous emissions and untreated dis-charge from factories, they said, had ruined the lives of the people especially those living in and around the Port Qasim area.

`The landscape of Port Qasim has been under huge stress for the past many years due to continued construction of jetties and dredging. Mangroves have been cut down from a large area while discharge of untreated waste into the sea has ruined fishing opportunities,` said Syed Khuda Dino, a social activist and former nazim of Bin Qasim town.

Livestock, he said, had also been gravely affected as some factories discharge their untreated waste through the Gujjar Nala being used as grazing ground for animals.

Increased security in the area following the construction of some power plants, he pointed out, had also discourage d fishing, a key livelihood resource for most villagers of the area.

Dino, who visited the proposed site many times along with other concerned villagers, explained to the audience that under the project, imported coal would be transported to an open yard through a 4.5kmlong conveyor belt and from there it would be transported to the interior parts of Sindh and Punjab by a train.

`The area already has a number of coal projects; some are in the pipeline while others are in different phases of construction. Bringing another mega coal project will devastate the environment,` he said.

Over 20 villages, he said, were located in close proximity of the project site. The areas located close to the project site included Haero Kalmati goth, Allah Baksh goth, Pipri, Shah town, Saboo goth, Thaar goth and Port Qasim housing scheme.

The areas located near the coal jetty included Lat Basti, Bhains Colony, Peranoo goth and Mehmood Jat goth.

According to Dino, villagers displaced by a mega power project in the area were given peanuts in compensation by the government and now they are in court fighting for a better settlement.

`The PQA has acquired an area of 153 acres from the Pakistan Steel Mill to build up the coal yard,` said Hamza Panhwar, another activist. He added that the government never paid any attention to protestsagainst a cement factory whose harmful emissions had made people`s life miserable.

`How can they believe on government assurances now when they have seen that official promises are never fulfilled,` he asked.

Sultan Ahmed Memon, a resident of Gulshan-i-Hadeed, said coal emissions wouldn`t be restricted to a small area but would travel long distances and had a larger impact on populations.

`We must not think our locality will be safe. People are already disturbed by the cement factory`s emissions and these coal projects will worsen living conditions,` he said.

It is noteworthy that the proposed coal conveyer belt passes through the industrial zone in Port Qasim where several national and multinational industries including pharmaceutical, food, edible oil/ ghee and purified water are operational.

Representatives of these industries have raised serious reservations regarding its environmental impact but the government is yet to respond.