Karachi, April 7, 2025: Renowned environmentalist Mrs. Shahida Kausar Farooq has voiced serious concern over the persistent fire in Karachi’s Korangi area, which has entered its tenth consecutive day. In a statement issued Monday, she termed the situation not only a grave public safety hazard but a full-blown environmental emergency.
Mrs. Farooq highlighted recent reports revealing the presence of toxic chemicals—such as benzene, toluene, and tetrachloroethylene—in the water samples collected from the vicinity. She warned that these substances pose significant health risks to nearby residents and reflect broader environmental mismanagement.
She emphasized that unregulated and unauthorized groundwater boring is a particularly dangerous and destructive practice. “Such activities can result in the accidental release of underground gases and chemicals, triggering disasters like the ongoing Korangi blaze,” she said. “Excessive groundwater extraction is rapidly depleting our reserves, causing land subsidence, and threatening long-term sustainability.”
Calling for immediate and coordinated action, Mrs. Farooq urged authorities and stakeholders to enforce strict regulations on groundwater extraction and industrial waste disposal, promote eco-friendly and sustainable industrial practices, raise public awareness on environmental hazards, and establish robust emergency response systems to deal with such incidents. She called for a municipal emergency to tackle the situation. The municipal emergency deals with all the required steps needed.
“This fire must be treated as a wake-up call,” she stressed. “We are running out of time. Continued inaction will only deepen the crisis. Immediate steps are essential to protect our water, our environment, and our collective future.”
