Environmentalists have urged the government to shun plans of construction projects in the twin islands, located at the mouth of Korangi Creek, off Karachi’s coast that are habitats of the local biodiversity and habitats of migratory birds too. The islands have no potential for eco-tourism as they are already under threat due to sea intrusion, mangrove deforestation, growing pollution, experts say.
The federal government has acquired Bundal and Buddu islands through a presidential decree and planned to launch mega-development projects.
A 2008 survey done by the World Wide Fund for Nature-Pakistan (WWF-P) had recorded 96 fish and 54 bird species along with three species of marine dolphins and turtles here. The mangrove cover was about 3,349 hectares.
No study, however, has recently been done to assess the ecology of the area where these islands exist.
It may be mentioned here that Korangi Creek is considered to be one of the worst affected water bodies in terms of destruction caused by heavy discharge of hazardous effluent from Karachi’s industrial areas, including the export processing zone. The continuous flow of waste water from Cattle Colony has also contributed to pollution.
Source: Dawn
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