Sindh Government came into action after Shaniera Akram, wife of former cricketer Wasim Akram, shared a troubling video of Karachi’s Clifton beach littered with heaps of medical waste.
On Tuesday, Shaniera Akram posted several videos and pictures on her Twitter account, which showed a huge amount of medical waste including syringes, vials of blood dumped at the beach. She declared it hazardous, advising people to not to visit and beach and urged the authorities to declare an emergency at the Clifton beach and clean up the mess as soon as possible.
“I have walked on Clifton beach every day for the last 4 years and I have never been scared until today. This beach needs to be shut down now,” Shaniera said.
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
There is kilometres of medical waste including hundreds of open needle syringes amongst other things, that has come in from the ocean. Clifton beach, at this moment, is extremely dangerous and needs to be shut down #CliftonBeach #MedicalWaste #BeachShutDown #ImSoSorryKarachi pic.twitter.com/VEDZUdauNe
— Shaniera Akram (@iamShaniera) September 3, 2019
I have found over 4 dozen open syringes in the last 10 minutes. This is a biohazard and our beach needs to be closed down until the proper authorities can guarantee the people of Karachi are safe. This has gone on long enough, peoples lives are at risk
— Shaniera Akram (@iamShaniera) September 3, 2019
Medical waste, syringes, vials of blood that has come in from the ocean has spread across Clifton beach for kilometers. The beach is biohazardous and in a state of emergency”, she added.
DO NOT go to the beach and try to clean it, this is biohazardous waste and needs to be a restricted area and cleaned by professionals. The sea and beach needs to be declared unsafe for everyone immediately
— Shaniera Akram (@iamShaniera) September 3, 2019
I have stayed silent for too long. Every tv channel needs to be running this now. You have a duty of care to protect the lives of the people of Karachi and tell them Clifton beach, as it stands, is totally unsafe for anyone!
— Shaniera Akram (@iamShaniera) September 3, 2019
Why is the beach still open? For me,This is not a blame game this is a “we need to act now”problem & close the beach. I don’t want to be in this position but I have no choice peoples lives are at stake and I was faced with a moral obligation. People needed to know about this
— Shaniera Akram (@iamShaniera) September 3, 2019
She also asked to avoid voluntary services of cleaning the beach since it needs to be cleaned by professionals. Shaneira urged the TV channels to extensively highlight the plight of cleanliness on Clifton beach.
Shaniera expressed her angst in the series of tweets, describing the dumping of medical waste as ‘crossing the limit’.
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Following her tweet, the Sindh government cordoned off the affected area and started cleanliness work at the beach. Sindh Police and other Sindh government officials quickly reacted to Shaniera’s tweet. Within a few hours, the heavy machinery and sanitary cleaners cleared the shore.
Sindh Police responded to her tweet and claimed that they have sealed the area for the protection of the public.
https://twitter.com/sindhpolicedmc/status/1168792851565731841?s=20
PPP senator Murtaza Wahab thanked Shaniera Akram for highlighting the issue. He also acknowledged the concerned authorities for cleaning up the Clifton beach.
“Visited Clifton beach earlier today to oversee the cleanup of the beach with the assistance of Secretary Environment, DC South & Cantonment Board. The area is 80% clear now. Thank u @iamShaniera for highlighting the issue & CBC staff for cleaning it up,” Wahab said on Twitter.
Visited Clifton beach earlier today to oversee the cleanup of the beach with the assistance of Secretary Environment, DC South & Cantonment Board. The area is 80% clear now. Thank u @iamShaniera for highlighting the issue & CBC staff for cleaning it up pic.twitter.com/tb2qU2Ifdm
— Murtaza Wahab Siddiqui (@murtazawahab1) September 3, 2019