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Medical waste is washing up on Seaview beach and Shaniera Akram has proof
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Medical waste is washing up on Seaview beach and Shaniera Akram has proof

"There is medical waste, including open syringes, vials of blood, broken glass medical containers," she shared.
Images Staff
03 Sep, 2019

If you've been to Clifton beach in Karachi, you know it's not the cleanest place around.

People litter, waste washes up on the shore and there's even a discharge of untreated sewage into the sea from a drain near a restaurant.

Shaniera Akram has taken to social media to declare the beach in a state of emergency.

"There is 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 a bio-hazard zone and needs to be shut down immediately. I am so sorry to the people including myself who use and love our beach but this is beyond safe."

She called for the media to take notice:

Akram also warned people to let professionals take care of the mess as cleaning it up ourselves could be dangerous:

She suggested the beach be shut down until it's safe for the public:

She had also previously shared a picture of all the plastic waste on the beach:

View this post on Instagram

There is no bigger heartbreak than the love one has for our city and our beach. Karachi and all who live here on our land and in our waters, are literally choking to death. This has been so hard for me to post but if we really want to clean up our city then now is the time because Karachi really needs our help. YES we need better garbage disposal, YES we need to enforce recycling systems but we also need to start playing our role. Did you know a plastic bag takes between 1-10 000 years or more to decompose? We don’t need more bandaids of beach clean ups we need to get to the root of the problem! This is our home and we need to look after it. Karachi is imposing a ban on plastic bags from Oct 1st but it’s up to us to enforce it. Stop the use of plastic bags and polystyrene containers in your home and office NOW. Everyone must play a part so that we can all have a better future. If just half of us stop the use of non recyclable plastics that will make an incredible difference already . Make the change so that our city has a chance. Ask for paper and say no to plastic ! #LetsCleanKarachiForGood #SayNoToPlastic #PaperIsSafer #OurCityIsChoking #SayNoToRestaurantsWithPolystyrene #UseMaterialShoppingBags #AskForPaperBags #KarachiNeedsOurHelp

A post shared by Shaniera Akram (@iamshaniera) on

Good on her for pointing this out and also shutting down this troll in the process:

Comments

M. Saeed Sep 03, 2019 01:43pm
This is a horrible situation that demands most urgent notice by the Government to take appropriate corrective action. Investigations must be initiated for finding all those who fail to dispose of such hospital and medical stuff, without following due process. Highly appreciative and thankful to Shaniera Akram, for her eye opener with proofs.
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Haider Sep 03, 2019 01:49pm
Thanku maam for raising the issue. I hope the men in power will focus their efforts on this emergency issue out of their political squabble.
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Dr. Salaria, Aamir Ahmad Sep 03, 2019 01:51pm
She is 100 percent right. Nevertheless, she must also understand that this is just the tip of of iceberg.
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Abbas Sep 03, 2019 02:04pm
Thanks for highlighting this Shaniera. Its a shame for us, and the authorities.
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fida Sep 03, 2019 02:16pm
Lady you have done a great service to Karachi. Karachi is sitting on several time bombs, this one is the first one, there are others, such as earthquake, Nuclear plant west of Karachi, dirty sewer flowing into the seas, every day garbage and its disposal. The tall structures, without adequate drainage system and lack of fire fighting equipment.
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Zeeshandxb Sep 03, 2019 02:21pm
Sad. Karachi since my childhood continues to bleed.
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Adil108 Sep 03, 2019 02:22pm
This is absolutely true, SOS for Karachi Seaview Beach. The CBC and DHA have been ignoring their duties. Have the management change immediately. Cleanliness is the path of our faith. Fine those who litter the beach especially the visitors.
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The Truth Spy Sep 03, 2019 02:26pm
thank you Shaniera Akram for bringing this serious issue into the attention now the city management and federal govt must take an action we are fed up and tired and feel sick to the stomach from the careless corrupt, lazy, unprofessional management nobody knows how to keep this country clean and green everyone is just greedy and busy in their own business
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KAHN Sep 03, 2019 02:33pm
Absolute failure of sindh government.
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Salman Sep 03, 2019 02:57pm
She is absolutely right! The beach needs to shut down and it needs to be cleaned.
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Hamxa Sep 03, 2019 03:01pm
Shame. I was there a year ago. People even throwing condom packets in sea! We need to behave like human.
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A shah Sep 03, 2019 03:06pm
Pakistan is truly hell on Earth
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S Khan Sep 03, 2019 03:11pm
Really sad to see the sorry state of the beach and the city as a whole. Excellent post, to voice concern and the danger to the public. Well done. I totally agree with Mrs Shaniera Akram, this beach is hazardous and should be shut down for general public, until its properly cleaned by professionals.
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Jamil Soomro, New York City Sep 03, 2019 04:11pm
Shaniera Akram deserves respect for her excellent initiative of showing the people and Administration of Karachi the reality. Her efforts are being appreciated.It shows she cares for Pakistan.
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Syed Sep 03, 2019 04:11pm
Karachi does not even have solid waste disposal and water treatment plants. Sindh and Local Governments do not ant to do anything at all. On top of that DHA Karachi does not want to regularly clean the beach either. Karachi has become a grand ghetto sadly.
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haris Sep 03, 2019 05:03pm
Karachi Mayor doesn't have power to run development projects but at least he can drive a cleanup drive on the city Beaches. for that you don't need billions to spend but just the will and help of the people around you.
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Concerned Sep 03, 2019 07:38pm
I hope more high profile people raise their voice to highlight this issue and in general the cleaning of Karachi. They should force elected officials along with responsible authorities to address these issues and give due respect to Karachi and its residents.
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Uzay Yazdani Sep 03, 2019 10:26pm
Immediately if not sooner.
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Rabz Sep 04, 2019 04:09am
I really hope something is done about it!
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hohn Sep 04, 2019 04:34am
Great work Shaniera! It's high time that people of Karachi need to demand a cleaner and safer beach. For the people who think this is petty, imagine if any of these syringes contain HIV blood or Hep C or any other life altering disease and accidentally pricks you?
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Zaman Sep 04, 2019 07:01am
Thank you Shaniera Akram for highlighting such a critical issue. Medical waste should never be disposed off in this fashion. The Ocean is a vibrant ecosystem. Such hazardous waste transmits various infectious diseases including Hepatitis and HIV that can be fatal.This is the aspect of medical waste that is visible and can be seen . The greater component that flows into rivers and the Ocean including blood and body fluids as well as decomposed products are not visible and lethal. The Medical Community should conform to standards that ensure safety for individuals and the society as a whole. Also chemical waste disposal in the form of chemical waste from factories and pharmaceutical companies also has long term carcinogenic threats. Please wake up as a society and combat this on an emergency basis.
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Anonymouseee Sep 04, 2019 09:10am
Thank you for spreading this awareness Shaneria.
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Dove Sep 04, 2019 10:40am
This is truly an emergency and needs to be tackled in a more sustainable way.
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Zulfiqar Sep 05, 2019 11:42pm
Fed government needs to intervene in Sindh. Maybe governor rule is the answer
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