High pollutants identified at Kemari; preliminary report on toxic gas released

High pollutants identified at Kemari; preliminary report on toxic gas released

KARACHI: A preliminary report related to toxic gas leakage near port area revealed high pollutants with presence of lethal gases.

Global Environment Lab Private Limited on Tuesday issued its preliminary report related to incident of poisonous gas leakage in Kemari, Karachi.

It said that recent incident of leakage of mysterious gas in the vicinity of Kemari, Karachi on February 17, 2020, claimed the lives of 11 people and affected hundreds of people as per media reports. However, the source of this gas is yet to be confirmed.

Global Environmental Lab Pvt. Ltd. being socially responsible entity voluntarily monitored the air quality on number of locations on the request of Sindh Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA).

The objective was to assess the presence of toxic gases and their levels in the area. Levels of CO, NO. H2S, SO2, VOCs, O3, PM2.0 and PM2.5 were assessed.

“The level of all pollutants were found to be higher than the allowable limits when monitored aournd midnight near Ziauddin Hospital Kemari,” the report said.

However, the main source of gas leakage and reason for fatalities is yet to be confirmed.

“The higher levels of pollutants at sea view are need to be assessed further as they may be due to local factors,” it added.