Heavy rain in Karachi has turned the sea view beach located in Clifton into a garbage dump, with several kilometers of garbage piled up on the waterfront over the past two days.
Waste from the hospitals, especially several open-needle syringes, have washed up on the shore and pose a severe health hazard for the citizens visiting the beach in the rainy weather.
Philanthropist Shaniera Akram has declared the Karachi beach in a state of emergency following ‘biohazardous waste’ washed up on the shore posing a serious health hazard.
She posted a video of medical waste dumped on Clifton beach. It included used syringes, vials of blood, broken glass medical containers, amid other disposed material.
“On behalf of all the citizens in Karachi, I Shaniera Akram declare Clifton beach in the state of emergency. There are kilometers of medical waste, including open syringes, vials of blood, broken glass medical containers, that has come in from the ocean spread out over kilometers across the beach. Our beach is biohazard zone and needs to be shut down immediately,” she wrote.
In a series of messages posted on Tuesday, Shaniera stressed that the media should broadcast the images of the garbage piled up on the beach, as it has a duty of care to protect the lives of the people of Karachi.
“Clifton beach, as it stands, is totally unsafe, officially hazardous and is in state of an emergency,” she warned, urging authorities to act to clean up the place.
“Medical waste, syringes, viles of blood that has come in from the ocean has spread across Clifton beach for kilometers,” she said, adding that she felt scared.
Right now on Clifton Beach! Please listen to me, this has crossed the line of dangerous! We need to #CloseTheBeachNow #StateOfEmergency #CliftonBeachIsABioHazardZone pic.twitter.com/iLcn1kZLqY
— Shaniera Akram (@iamShaniera) September 3, 2019
Following her social media post, Sindh Police reaffirmed that the affected region has been cordoned-off and Section 144 has been imposed.
Police have cordoned-off the affected area of Clifton beach, section 144 has been imposed for the safety of visitors. #SSPSouth #Karachi @iamShaniera https://t.co/KtNxUmORCZ
— Sindh Police (@sindhpolicedmc) September 3, 2019
Time and again, the wife of former captain Wasim Akram, has raised social issues that need attention and often go unaddressed. She is one of the few celebrities who have always been playing their part in bringing these pertinent issues in limelight.
Not only does she highlight them, but also tries to solve them in her own capacity to make her home, Pakistan a better place to live in.
A few days back, Akram denounced the use of plastic bags promising she will not use any of those bags in the future, urging others to do the same.
