Black Days in Karachi

oops - mixed you up with binifer on the baby thing, sorry bina!

Bina - I just saw in your profile that you went to Wellesley College ... I live in Natick (since 1996) and my husband works in Waltham, I used to work in the Financial District for Fidelity and took my train from Wellesley Square all the time ... funny we may have crossed paths sometime ... hope you and baby are doing well !

An editorial in Sunday`s (August 24) DAWN:

Oil spill again



This has now happened a second time this month: the Tasman Spirit is prolifically leaking its oil again, proving the government agencies wrong. Bad weather and stormy seas predicted for the next few days will obviously make salvage operations even more difficult, making it certain that the ship`s remaining cargo of 20,000 tonnes of oil will empty into the sea. This will add to the miseries of those citizens who have still not recovered from the effects of the spill earlier this month. All commercial activity in the area has come to a halt, and the beach is no more a place fit for picnicking and a bit of fresh air. One does not know for how long the Clifton beach will remain closed to the public. But one thing is obvious: the KPT and other government departments have not learnt any lessons from the oil leakage disaster earlier this month.

Foreign experts have been called in for help in the clean-up process, but their presence seems to be having no effect on the situation. Perhaps, this results from the fact that the Pakistani authorities never had a contingency plan of their own and because the foreign experts are suggesting environment-friendly measures for disposing of the contaminated sand and dead marine animals. Many of our NGOs, too, seem to have a lot of academic knowledge about environmental degradation, and a penchant for holding seminars, but have no practical knowledge or experience of dealing with such disasters. The dispute between the Defence Housing Authority and the city government over where to dispose of the contaminated sand and dead fish needs to be sorted out. The government has instituted an inquiry into the oil spill but some have questioned its independence given that it is made up of officials serving in organizations whose performance the inquiry will seek to investigate. One wonders whether heads will roll and the government will break from tradition and release to the public the findings of the inquiry.

ana_deborah #35 I think your basic point is that we Pakistanis are too apathetic on public issues. It is hard to argue against calls for less apathy. However, please see Shandana`s article on the same subject ``Call to action on the oil spill``, and particularly the latest posts from her on that board, an I think you will agree that efforts are being made. Of course, there is always room for more.

Incidentally, my objection to ferozk`s diatribes (and that is basically all they are in my view based on a quick walk through his posts) is that you cant use Tasman Spirit spill to condemn Pakistanis en masse. As Shandana clearly indicates, there are far too many Pakistanis doing far more that you or me or ferozk (writing posts on chowk is mere time pass, lets admit) for any one of us to rant on about perceived deficiencies in the Pakistani psyche. In case of the Tasman spill, a ton of condemnation of government is worth less than an ounce of self-help and individual initiative.


b.

ferozk #36 So you insist I read your lengthy posts. Trouble is I dont have time nowadays. Tell you what - I`ll read ana_deborah`s post at some point hopefully and get back.

re: tahmed32

The explanation lies in my previous interacts. I have explained my reasons. If you would care to read them, I believe you will have your answer.

Ciao

am hesitant to enter into this argument, debate, call it what you will between feroz and tahmedji. . .but something compels me to stick my not so big nose in this discussion. . .and so i will shake off my laziness, sluggishness, tiredness...and attempt to comment on this. and this is looking to possibly be a longish post. . .but i will not apologize this time.

i read and reread feroz`s posts. . .and yes even i cringe at the thought that we as pakistanis at home and abroad are to blame for the oil spill occurring. the KPT mainly are to be held at fault here, and the PNSC...they are directly to blame for the environmental disaster that is wreaking havoc for the inhabitants of karachi and its environs.

having said that. . .

if we pakistanis remain silent about this and do not demand (and demand is the proper verb here) accountability from the government offices responsible for this bloody mess, then yes, we are just as much responsible as the idiots who mismanaged this. we keep crying about democracy this, and democracy that. . .well, those of us who wish to see democracy have a chance to put it in action by asking for accountability. granted, musharraf has been more of a usurper rather than a democratically elected president, but how does this stop us as citizens who claim to be pakistanis, and those of us abroad who still have ties to pakistan from wanting these bumblers (the kindest thing i can say in english without being censored) to be answerable for their actions, and future actions?
silence is not golden here. . .silence is poisonous.

i remember not too long ago, taking a class where we read literature of the holocaust, and the armenian genocide. i recall several poets and writers, who in their gripping words alluded to the fact that those who remained silent about what was happening with jewish communities in much of europe were contributors, through their silence, to the atrocities being perpetrated. as harsh of a reality as that is to deal with, for those who were silent. i believe there is validity in that allusion. i think i`ve mentioned this before in connection with something else, and hate being repetitious. . .but it bears repeating. and it bears repeating because this is not the first time i have observed with more adult eyes, how we as adult pakistanis do not wish to make any waves in regards to actions that plunge us further and further into an abyss. we complain about the way things are in pakistan, but we do nothing that actually is in our power to do to press for change. and i am just as guilty of that as perhaps my ammi is, as perhaps my cousin-brother who is struggling to educate his children in pakistan is. there are too many struggles to deal with, why take on this one? and what good is it going to do?

pakistan is flooded with apathy, and so are pakistanis who live in other parts of the globe. as a cynical, often apathetic, and yes, still a citizen of pakistan who wavers between holding on, and disawowing myself from pak sar zameen, i am well aware of that. the thing is, what kind of message does this apathy send, not primarily to other lands, but within our own...to our own, our past...our present...our future...our children or future children. it is certainly not a positive one. like that one reveler in bina`s article said, `how can this hurt us?` we`ve been hurt by so much before, wars, mad generals, mad prime ministers, pollution, senseless murders, so-called honour killings, my gawd, how can an oil spill hurt us? well, it can. and it is. so wake up and smell the stink!

feroz`s posts have had emotionalism in them, and rightly so. . .but he also makes a valid point, and i cannot help but feel that it is in poor taste to question his intelligence for having made such a point. we as people who inhabit the land of pakistan, or who once inhabited the land of pakistan and still have a strong connection to it, have to some extent allowed ourselves to be trampled over so much so that now we seem not to care. . .`tis qismat, destiny, whatever. and that, forgive me, is just bollocks! i shudder sometimes at this rate to think of the future. . .of pakistan`s future. and the future of pakistan is not in the `muththi` of the army, or the bureaucrats alone, the future of pakistan is in our hands, yours. .and mine. it is our land. . .our government regardless of how we feel about it, if only we would act as if it was.

adnan: if you`re reading this, i hope that your ammi is feeling better.

i know that this was more than 50 words or so, and i am prepared for the insults and mockery that are to come my way for my unabashed emotionalism. i know that there is some truth in what i am saying, and thank you for either patiently reading this. .or skipping to the next post.

adios.

ferozk #33 OK, seriously then: Accountability is for actions within one`s control.

Please explain why the mere fact that one is Pakistani makes one accountable for the Tasman oil spill?

Kindly provide this explanation in 50 words or less, if possible.

re: tahmed32

Sir, you are more than welcome to insult me.

Sir, you have not answered my question. In fact, you have not answered one question which I asked. I am talking about accountibility. I have been clear; it is you who keeps changing the arguments. Do Pakistanis have any responsibilities to their nation in particular and to the world in large? If not, then please explain why we should not be blamed for our actions.

I will ask once more knowing fully well that you will not answer, but you will insult me again. If you feel the oil spill is a trival matter, I disagree with you. It is you and not I, who is making a mockery of intelligence.

Ciao

ferozk #31 So you are saying that every citizen of Pakistan is guilty of the Tasman oil spill. I admire your insightful thinking. Since you declared me (as Pakistani) guilty of the oil spill, let me then take a crack at punishing you (who are also a Pakistani and therefore also guilty) for the crime, as follows:

(Dons black cap).
The court finds ferozk guilty of the Tasman spill. He is therefore required to perform 5 years of community service, whereby he will therefore drink the spilt oil floating on the Arabian Sea until the last drop.
The court also finds ferozk guilt of 10,000 other counts of crime committed on his behalf by the current and previous Pakistan governments. He is therefore required to be whipped 100 times every day for 10,000 days.
In addition, by proving to
Court Dismissed!!

Commentary on the court decision: The punishments match the crimes of which you convicted every Pakistani (including yourself).

PS: Where did you get your brilliant mind anyway?

re: tahmed32 # 27

As a Pakistani, do you feel that Pakistani government should be accountable to its people?

You as a Pakistani are responsible for the actions of your government. Let me explain. The government of Pakistan represents your interests and when its actions harm your interests, you have a responsibility to demand an explanation - an accountibility. I can understand the argument that Musharraf government is non elected, non democratic government and it does not represent the rights of the Pakistani people. That may be true, but the Musharraf government acts in our name and it claims to represent our rights. We can disagree on the validity of this argument, but as long as it claims such, we are affected by its actions. We have the right to ask our government to answer our questions. It does not have to answer them and it may not answer them, but that does not mean we give up our right to question the government.

I honestly feel that democracy will arrive in Pakistan, but it will not be handed to us on a silver platter. We will have to fight for it; tooth and nail! Just because there is no democracy in Pakistan, does not mean we give up our rights.

As a Pakistani, the actions of the Pakistani government haunt you. As long as you claim to be a Pakistani or carry the identification of being one, you will be judged by the actions of Pakistan. I am asking for accountibility as why this happened and who was responsible for this disaster. Why are you responsible for this oil spill as a Pakistani? You, sir, have to answer that question yourself. I am responsible for this oil spill, because I feel responsible for Pakistan and as a Pakistani, the decisions which led to this oil spill were made in my name and they were supposed to represent my interests.

If on the other hand, you wish to absolve yourself and feel that you are not responsible for this oil spill, why do you claim to be a Pakistani? If Pakistan is to be improved, Pakistanis will have to improve it. Or, we can ask the United States to come to Pakistan and establish democracy like it helped democracy in Iraq. If you do not wish Pakistanis to be concerned about Pakistan, then sir, please tell me who should be concerned about Pakistan and what happens in Pakistan? As a Pakistani, are you not concerend what happens in your name? If you are not interested in Pakistan, then please leave us alone and go your merry way as we try to salvage our nation. We absolve you of all blame. Please change your nationality and have nothing to do with Pakistan -I think you have already done that! :)

Indians living abroad are concerend about what happens in India and they hold their governments responsible. Why cannot the Pakistanis do the same? If not, then what is our interest in Pakistan? How is democracy going to flourish in Pakistan if we keep never take responsibility for what happens in our name and in our nation.

Ciao

adnan #28 I did indeed stop reading after your first line. I went back and read the rest of the post, and see that it indeed sounds like what a nutcase would write. Trouble on chowk is that there are so many nuts for real, that it is impossible to determine whether the intent of the post is to be funny or to be dead serious. So, even if I had read your entire post, I would have not known you were being funny. Is it possible to be funny without sounding like a nutcase?? You know, like a couple of funny lines followed by a ;-) or something?? Just a suggestion.

jay,

``gin sipping harami``........ now you might have gone a bit too far - even i am offended........ there is nothing wrong with being passionate about your views but sometimes blind hatred can make you look silly ...... be careful

tahmed32:

Array bhai, my post in reference was in jest. I was poking fun at the mullah mentality and their ``primitive attitude``. I thought my joke about 2000 Jews not showing up for work in TelAviv was a dead giveaway. Maybe not. Maybe you never bothered to read the whole post.

But, perhaps you are right ... comedy has never been my cup of tea.

BTW, my parents live not too far from SeaView Apartments. My mother has been complaining about shortness of breath and a slight fever for the past one week. Courtesy of the oil spill, I`m sure.

adnan #25 When you write stuff like ``why are we wasting our time on trivial issues like this?``, you reveal an attitude that deserves to be put down. It is the same attitude that causes people to leave behind a mess at picnic spots, and at community events, claiming that you are concerned only with bigger problems related to international politics.

So, repeat after me: ``An oil spill is not a trivial issue.`` Say this a hundred times and you should be on your way to a less primitive attitude.

ferozk #21 I dont see you blaming all Americans for the Valdez spill. So, lets not start dragging all Pakistanis in for blame. E.g., I am a Pakistani, so please explain why I should consider myself responsible for this oil spill.

PS: And I see the medicine wore out on Jay, and he has started his usual howls about ``Hooo Hoooo Pakistanis are very bad....hooo hoooo they are jehadis.....hooo hooo, and I jay am still crazy after all these years``.

tahmed32 #20

lol .... if men could ever suffer from PMS, you would be the poster child for it. Whine, whine, whine .... do you ever get tired of insulting others to make yourself feel better. There are other ways you know ...

Bina,

There is a lesson from the oil spills for pakistan, it is a metaphor for what is happening in pakistan. At the door way of pakistan, the world has left sh//it on its independance day. The crude oil, gift from the mother earth has turned into a killer, it has turned to poison at the door step of pakistan, that too on independance day.
This is a reminder of what happened 57 years ago. The great wisdom of a religion, gift from the collective wisdom of mankind turned to a lynch mob at the door step of pakistan, because one man turned that into poison, the islam was turned to a killing ideology of TNT by a gin sipping harami, not very different from the ction of the captian of tasman spoirit.

Since then that spitrit has permeated the pak psyche, jihad has become the dominant ideology, when the crude is washing up the shores of karachi, more doctors are killed in karachi, there is violence in karach due to it, to remind you of the what is waiting at the door step of karachi, the wishes of the world at large.

There is a gift in everything, and if you can find the omen in the cargo delivered by the tasman spirit, there is hope for pakistan, if you do not find the omen and what it portends there is the black sh//it waiting for the entire nation.

Killings in Karachi



The city of Karachi is stunned and shocked by the murder of five brothers. Murders, dacoities, carjackings, etc., are on the increase while President Gen Pervez Musharraf, it appears, is busy protecting and promoting American interest in the area.

The province of Sindh, Karachi in particular, has been surrendered to thugs, thieves and dacoits. Rampant unchecked crime is order of the day. The law and order situation is at its worst ever. Apparently, there is no genuine will, desire or effort to improve it or to provide the people with basic necessities.

As head of the state, Gen Musharraf is responsible for providing protection of life, honour and property. It is nearly four years since his assumption of power, but there is no improvement. The overall situation is rapidly going from bad to worse - no law and order, no power, no water.

SAJJAD MALIK

///what a choice for the karachi people, which is worse, the thugs on land or the toxins off shore. There are articles about the oil spill, tahmed aks who should pay, how to get a buck, and he will not dare to ask, how to stop the killings, because they are sectarian killings, in line with TNT>

Qaddafi`s dream:

Perhaps someone can verify this. Qaddafi has built that `Man-Made` River that takes water from the underground acquifer in souther Libya and channelit to the north. It has been operational for sometime now. One of the major intentions is to create dense vegetation in the northern centers of population and shore line, that the weather patterns are altered so much that it begins to RAIN AGAIN!!! Can one REALLY alter weather patterns like this??

It is said Rome was built from the forests of Libya.

re: tahmed32 # 19

The point, in case you missed it, is simple. Why are the Pakistanis incapable of accepting responsibility for their own actions? Why do the Pakistanis blame others for their own acts? All I am saying is that Pakistanis have to learn to accept responsibility for their own actions and they must be held accountable for their misdeeds.

Who chartered the oil tanker? Who disobeyed all the laws and regulations in hiring the Tasman Spirit? Who did nothing while tanker was grounded and seeping oil into the sea? Blaming the captain? What good will that do? Who hired the captain to transport the oil to Karachi? Are Pakistanis involved in this whole episode or not? I am not interested about Spain; Spain has its problems and we have ours and I do not see Spain coming to help Pakistan. India was the only nation in the world, which formally offered Pakistan its help in the crisis. Did Spain offer Pakistan help? What Arab?Muslim nation came to Pakistan`s aid in this crisis? What has the Pakistani government done? Has Musharraf or Jamail said anything on the crisis?

No, sir. I blame the Pakistanis and I will blame the Pakistanis till they learn to accept responsibility for their actions. I will not excuse Pakistanis and I will not cover up their mistakes. Too many mistakes have been covered up and too much damage has been caused by our mistakes. Why do you think the world blames us or do you think that the world loves Pakistan and Pakistanis?

Ciao

ferozk #16 I was in Lahore a couple of weeks back. It was nice and green. In fact the vegetation alongside the canal was thicker than from what I recall from my university days. Are you shooting off-target again?? As for the tanker, ever hear of huge Exxon`s Valdez spill or the spill of the Spanish coast a couple of months work? And if you must look for someone to blame, then blame the tanker`s owners for not maintaining their vessel. Quit moaning and groaning about ``us Pakistanis this`` and ``us Pakistanis that``.

lalib #10 Your post is an informative one about a tragic incident (too bad one has to dig through the usual nonsense from urstruly, adnan_rafiq and ferozk to get to it). Oil spills are an example of technology getting beyond our ability to control it. I hope though that things dont turn out as bad as feared - after all, ocean currents can move the muck into the deep sea.

I am following the story in the papers, For updates and articles on the oil spill see:
http://ko.offroadpakistan.com/pakistan/2003_08/pakistan_oil_spill_update.html

``#11 by temporal
who is liable?...somebody should be sued and punished...``

Yeh dil yeh paagal dil mera..

Long long ago, in my country called India, there was a city called Bhopal. Some what enthu with MNC investments and stuff...

Then something happened. Some idiots and fools still think it was do with Union carb....

Give me a break...

Yogiraj Patil

Karachi Port Trust was nationalized in the 1970s. It became a fattening farm for the bureaucrats and retired navy admirals and generals. It is a government run organization and highly inefficient. The money generated by KPT is siphoned off into different accounts and the levels of corruption are so endemic, that no money is left over, which can be allocated for upgrading the facilities. Upgrading of facilities costs money and runs contary to self interests of its greedy and corrupt operators.

This was bound to happen and now that it has happened, nothing will happen and no one will be blamed and the cycle of corruption and money being looted will continue unabated. There is a familar cry in Pakistan, which voices that the army should leave politics, but sadly there is no voice that says the government should stop interfering in business. Everyone is concerned about the effects of the oil spill and its environmental consequences, but no one is concerned about the evironmental consequences, posed by the citizens of Pakistan`s wanton lust for destruction, towards Pakistan itself.

In Lahore, the provincal government is building a new underpass near the canal and to pave way for the construction, a row of old trees, which have shaded the poor and rightless Pakistanis from the sun, has been uprooted and strewen on the embankments of the canal. A row of trees, starting from the mall, along the canal bank from Aitchison College upto to Zaman Park, have been destroyed. We can prevent the oil spill, but who is going to prevent Pakistanis from destroying Pakistan? Is there a thing; living, which the Pakistanis have not killed? Why are the Pakistanis so keen to destroy everything they touch? Are Pakistanis only interested in destroying and are they not capable of creating some thing other than death and misery in this world?

Pakistan is being polluted and the trees help to combat the build up of the poisonious gases, but we kill the trees and we are paving every green acre of Lahore - building malls, and shopping plazas. Soon, in the name of progress, Lahore will have no trees and it will be a desert of asphalt. Lahore is getting warmer each summer, because the trees are gone and pavement soaks up the heat and it radiates that heat, changing the weather and causing rain clouds to by-pass the city. Lahore is turning into a desert and soon it will die, if we do not change our ways.

Why should Karachi be left behind?

Ciao

People, people, people ... why are we wasting our time on trivial issues like this? Your priorities are so screwed up. There are many other pressing matters to discuss.

As we sit here and waste our time discussing the irrelevant details of an oil spill ... the more important issues such as banning pant-qameez in schools and colleges, General saahib`s uniform, the anti-Islamic and indecent books in our curriculum, the havoc being wreaked upon our society due to co-education, have been put on the back burner. This is unacceptable.

And, if you ask me, the people of Karachi had it coming. Their ungodly ways, what with all the new year`s celebrations, family picnics at Hawk`s Bay (naa`oozu`billah) and other frivolities they engage in on a daily basis. This is Allah subhaanaa`ta`allah`s warning to Pakistanis. Instead of preparing soldiers of Allah to give those Hindus a black eye in Kashmir, our people had the audacity to greet the kaafir Lalloo. Shame on us!

Now, I know that a lot of the so-called liberals will dismiss this as a baseless conspiracy theory, but don`t you see the Zionist hand behind all this? In fact, if you read the Protocols of the Elders with an insightful eye, you will see that the oil tanker catastrophe was mentioned in no uncertain terms. Is it mere conincidence that the same day the tanker broke, 2000 Jews did not show up for work in TelAviv? Listen, you of little faith, Allah has provided you with ample clues. When will you wake up and smell the coffee?

Kindly, please turn your attention toward what matters most. Thank you!

A nation for whom dirty pond water (along with frogs) in the milk for babies, saw dust in the spices; tap water in life saving injections, and stones in wheat flour is a way of life; would that nation really give a flying guck to some spilled oil? I mean get real. In a country where everything from God to cricket is controlled by army do you think a common man would pitch in to help clean the oil spill? No siree. He is too busy hanging himself from the cieling fans and his woman is too busy throwing his children in the canal and jumping afterward.

You make it sound as if it was a utopian existence before the arrival of the latest plague. Oh, well, for the elitists, it might have been. Normal Karachites are exposed to similar problems everyday. Like the poor Lyari folks, who have been without electricity since the inception of time. They are pulling through, and so will the SeaView folks; albeit their will be a few more casualties.

A more drastic effect will be on our exports. The rains destroyed the crops, and the oil spill will have a major effect on the fishing industry. The economic blackout is what we ought to be worried about.

Cheers.

KPT officials...claim that the oil leakage was “minimal”, and they even claimed that they had managed to remove the fifty thousand tons of oil from the ship, a statement that they later recalled. The amended statement was that they could not state how much oil had been removed “for insurance and legal reasons”.

Same ol pattern of muthafukkin criminal irresponsibility followed up by trying to lie their way out. I thought withholding information on the 911 suspects for national security reasons was bad-- but this takes the cake!!


[The statement by the Minister for Communications, Mr. Ahmed Ali] was in direct contrast to reports in the newspapers that people were suffering from shortage of breath, asthmatic patients had run away from Seaview in droves, and that doctors were advising people to leave the area if they could ...
Despite the exorbitant fees it charges for use of port facilities, [the Karachi Port Trust] seems to have no capability whatsoever for dealing with any kind of emergency situation, and whatever attempts were made before the tanker split in two, they seem to have been kept to an absolute minimum in order to hide the fact that they had, for lack of a better phrase, screwed up so royally.




But thanks for keeping the issue out here in the forefront, Bina.

who is liable?...somebody should be sued and punished...

meanwhile...any ideas how those who are in the diaspora can help?

it will take upto 8 years for the karachi coast-line to recover from the damage done to the environment. it is the breeding and hatching season for most marine species in the indian ocean, so much so an ecologically sensitive period that even our ignorant govt. bans fishing during the months of june-july!! the oil spill means that one generation of marine life will be wiped out.

marine life in sindhi waters was already under grave threat before this disaster. oysters have disappeared from manora channel, fish-stock has decreased by an estimated 70% with certain fish species hunted out of the arabian sea altogether, mangrove plantations - breeding grounds for shrimp and fish - have been cut down to an area half of what they used to be twenty years ago. and now this ...

and then the socio-economic impact.(oh god). even before this disaster, the incomes of small-scale Sindhi fisherfolk were declining, in some cases to below subsistence. entire fishing villages (such as rehri miani, just around the corner) had been forced into debt. for Sindhi fishermen (about 150,000 in about 14,000 boats), the loss of coastal marine life means inevitable poverty, not only for them but for their future generations ... and i don`t hear of any compensation for these people ...
in fact, the story`s a lot worse than this. labor, the ONLY asset of the poor, is dependent upon health and education. the oil spill will have an irreversible, inescapable impact on health for people living along the coast. bad health not only lowers the capacity of the poor to generate income (when was the last time you hired a laborer with a debilitating disease?) but is also a drain on extant finances (treatment waghera). this leads to a tranfer of poverty from one generation to the next...

and to counter this increase in poverty, what will poor fisherfolk do? increase the use of banned fishing nets (that net fledgling fish, turtles etc.) that degrade the environment even further ... leads to more poverty ... vicious cycle it is.

and what do the CNS and chairman-KPT have to say? that there`s no disaster? nothing averse will happen? what a load of crock.

ps. some experts believe that the oil spill will spread to about 40 km along the coast. yeah, sounds very ``under control`` to me.

oops! sorry guys, wrong board

blame it on romair :)

#7 by Romair

`Are the peace vigil(ists) from the Indian side willing to compromise on their stances?`

shouldn`t you be asking that question of both sides??

These peace vigils are all good. But is anyone willing to work towards some sort of a solution to the India-Pak problems. Have the peace vigil(ists) debated what a solution would be? Are the peace vigil(ists) from the Indian side willing to compromise on their stances?

I think that will be the true test of whether people really want to solve Indo-Pak problems. So far the general theme seems to be that everyone wants peace, but only on their own terms.

This is just a sign of the times to come for people all over the world. The tanker breaking up has just shown us in a couple of days what would have taken maybe 20-40 years to occur otherwise. Overfishing, untreated sewage being dumped in the ocean, non-decomposable materials like styrofoam, pampers, etc. being poduced and sold, toxic waste from factories, chemical fertilizer drainage, CO2 emissions, etc. is all taking its toll on our environment and will scar the world we live in for an eon. Its going to happen faster in developing countries with large unenlightened populations, coupled with a myopic leadership and useless beauracracy i.e. few people of substance and vision.

The environment is no match for human being`s unbridled growth in terms of population and our need to satisfy insatiable urges that provide temporary satisfaction with a permanent cost. One can only hope that we become extremely conscious and aware of our individual and group actions and hold back in terms of producing more children and in terms of sucking our natural resources dry, if only for the selfish reason that in the end its ourselves and our future generations we need to save.

I just finished reading Piers Anthony`s, Isle of Woman, anyone interested in the past and future of human`s, evolution, our impact on the environment, and everything`s cyclical nature should read it. Amazing read.

This is just a sign of the times to come for people all over the world. The tanker breaking up has just shown us in a couple of days what would have taken maybe 20-40 years to occur otherwise. Overfishing, untreated sewage being dumped in the ocean, non-decomposable materials like styrofoam, pampers, etc. being poduced and sold, toxic waste from factories, chemical fertilizer drainage, CO2 emissions, etc. is all taking its toll on our environment and will scar the world we live in for an eon. Its going to happen faster in developing countries with large unenlightened populations, coupled with a myopic leadership and useless beauracracy i.e. few people of substance and vision.

The environment is no match for human being`s unbridled growth in terms of population and our need to satisfy insatiable urges that provide temporary satisfaction with a permanent cost. One can only hope that we become extremely conscious and aware of our individual and group actions and hold back in terms of producing more children and in terms of sucking our natural resources dry, if only for the selfish reason that in the end its ourselves and our future generations we need to save.

I just finished reading Piers Anthony`s, Isle of Woman, anyone interested in the past and future of human`s, evolution, our impact on the environment, and everything`s cyclical nature should read it. Amazing read.

Why didn`t the Government of Pakistan take any steps to contain this disaster.

Why didn`t the Government of Pakistan take any steps to contain this disaster.

I heard about the spill but had no idea it was this bad...lets hope the authorities will wake up and do something about the situation apart from pretending everything is hunky dory..that is so typical...i guess all we can do is hope and pray that these ``officials`` will move their asses and do something.

Once again, the procastination of KPT and the powers to be in the city govt have led to the extensive pollution of one of the only things Khiites thrive on-the beach. I have stopped reading the Metropolitan pages because my heart breaks with every piece of news. Quite a naivete approach, because you cannot escape reality as it looms over your head.