KARACHI: The Karachi Port Trust (KPT) has undertaken massive dredging and reclamation works in Pakistan’s largest city to develop in phases a deepwater container port to the south east of the existing port without obtaining the statutory environmental clearance.
Conservationists fear considerable long-term repercussions of the unchecked port development works undertaken at a cost of $1.6 billion. Prime Minister Yousuf Gilani had performed the groundbreaking of the dredging and reclamation works in April 2009.
About 55 percent of the reclamation work has already been done by dumping dredged material and other solid waste. A Chinese contractor has been engaged for the dredging of the port approach channel, dredging basin, dredging for quay wall works and reclamation using material available from the dredging operation to form the container terminal area.
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