#karachi #kemari
On Sunday evening the residents of Kemari area of Karachi were suddenly exposed to a strange gas leak. Soon after, person after person started passing out, raising alarm bells at hospital given the influx of the affected people.
The source of the leak has yet to be ascertained, which speaks volumes of the performance and competence of public departments. Sensing the gravity of the situation, the Sindh government has ordered evacuation of residents from affected areas. Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah has visited the areas and ordered the shifting of residents to the nearest but safest wedding hall till the situation is back to normal. This was the last desperate act to do as the smell of the toxic gas is not fading and more and more people are falling prey to it. The most effective thing should have been detecting the source of the toxic killer gas and fix the leakage. It seems the authorities are just left guessing about the matter. The commissioner sees the poisonous gas stemming from a ship container offloading soybean or a similar substance, while the Sindh Environmental Protection Agency sees the possible cause of gas from a terminal storing crude oil and petroleum products within the residential areas. While the port authorities have been quick to reject the reports of gas emission from any ship container the Sindh Environmental Protection Agency has been unable to pinpoint the exact storing facility where from the gas emitted.
