KARACHI: The Supreme Courtmandated commission on water and sanitation on Tuesday summoned the commander of Karachi, chairman of the Karachi Port Trust, Sindh chief secretary, secretary for the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan and other senior ofhcials on June 30 over marine pollution.Head of the commission retried apex court judge Justice Amir Hani Muslim said that inaction on the part of the authorities concerned had resulted in a great loss to the national economy through decline in exports and the sanctions imposed by the European Union and United States on fish imports.

`What is more disturbing is that constant flow of untreated waste is permanently damaging marine life,` he added.

At the outset, Captain Rizwan Ahmed of Pakistan Navy, a representative of the headquarters commander of Karachi, briefed the commission on harbour pollution while the secretary for fisheries and livestock, and officials of the Karachi and Korangi Fish Harbour authorities, Karachi Water and Sewerage Board and the SindhEnvironmental Protection Agency (Sepa) were also in attendance.

Justice Muslim said the overall picture given by Mr Ahmed was horrible as inaction on the part of different stakeholders had aggravated the pollution problem and it appeared that none of the departments concerned was discharging its duties.

He further said that the national strategic platforms had also been exposed to destruction and added that filth in the harbours had increased because of the direct discharge of industrial/ municipal waste from different points of Karachi.

The commission said that the issues needed to be addressed on a war footing and for those compelling reasons, it was left with no option other than calling thecommander of Karachi, KPT chairman, chief secretary, secretary for the TDAP, secretary for maritime affairs, secretary for local government, secretary for industries, secretary for Esheries and livestock, managing director of the Sindh Solid Waste Management Board, officials of Sepa and the provincial law ofHcers on June 30 so that appropriate and immediate steps could be taken to resolve the issues.

Warning to more PQA industrialists Meanwhile, the commission directed the owners of some other industries located in the Port Qasim Authority (PQA) industrial zone to install waste treatment plants within three months and warned that their industrial unitswould be sealed if they failed to comply with its directive within the stipulated period.

A number of industrialists were also found absent during Tuesday`s proceedings and Justice Muslim expressed displeasure over their repeated absence.

He yet again issued notices to them and directed the police to ensure their presence on June 28.

On Monday, the commission had issued an identical directive to over 10 industries and also told the PQA to lay sewerage pipelines outside the industries within two months.

Initially, notices were issued to most of the industries located in the industrial zone of the PQA on June 13 for directly discharging liquid waste/industrial ef fluent into the sea.