Karachi The Busy Port City of Pakistan

Karachi in southern Pakistan, is the capital of the Sind Province, and lies on the Arabian Sea, at the northwestern edge of the Indus River delta. With its wide sunny beaches, deep-sea fishing, and horse racing all-year round, the city keeps you on your toes throughout your stay.
Karachi is also a major port centered on the island of Kiamari, and along with its international airport they act as a hub for international trade, transport, manufacturing and commerce. Karachi is the country’s center of commerce although the capital was moved to Islamabad in 1963.

The Karachi Harbor was once known as the gateway to Asia, due to its strategic geographical location. The harbor is a sheltered bay to the south-west of the city, protected from storms by the Sandspit Beach, the Manora Island and the Oyster Rocks, making it even more ideal. Karachi was a small fishing village in the early 19th Century but its history dates back much further and some historians identify it as a place from where a part of Alexander's Army boarded the Greek Flotilla in 326 BC.

Two rivers pass through the city—the River Malir and the River Lyari. Dense mangroves and creeks of the Indus delta can be found towards the southeastern side of the city.

Under British rule, the city became the chief outlet for Indus Valley cotton and grain exports. Spread over 3,530 sq. km, the metropolitan area along with its suburbs comprises the world's second most populated city. The region is largely flat or in some places has rolling plains, with hills on the western and northern boundaries of the urban sprawl. It is locally called the City of Lights for its liveliness and the City of The Quaid, for not only being both the birth and death place of Muhammad Ali Jinnah the founder of Pakistan but also his home after 1947.

Death fish

The dead fish started appearing on Saturday afternoon but by Sunday evening, the number of fish has increased alarmingly,” said Keamari Town UC-4 Councilor Abdul Ghani. He added that it was not just dead fish but dead turtles that were being spotted in this area as well.
The mysterious arrival of thousands of dead fish of different sizes into the backwaters of the Karachi harbor, near Baba Island and Bhitt Island, late Saturday night, has created panic among fishermen but the Karachi Port Trust authorities have said they died in the annual Red Tide phenomenon.
Resident of Shamspir village, Suliman, blamed the harbor authorities for allowing deep sea trailers to take all the fish in the open sea, leaving the local fishermen with no choice but to fish on the polluted shores. “We don’t know what to do and how to earn our livelihood in such conditions. Many of us are thinking of changing our profession,” he said.

However, KPT officials rejected the fishermen’s claims that the fish died of toxic chemicals. “This is the work of the Red Tide, locally known as ‘Mara Pani (The killer water).’ It is a normal phenomenon and happens several times a year. There is no need to panic,” said the Karachi Port Trust (KPT) Marine Pollution Control Manager, Muhammad Zahiya Usmani. He also rejected that the fish died in the harbor limits.

“The fish died because of the high tide, outside of the harbor, and then came within the harbor limits with the tide,” said Usmani. Rejecting claims of industrial poisoning, he said that heavy layer of poisonous red algae that forms during a specific period every year, comes to the surface and attracts the fish. When the fish come in contact with the red algae and try to eat it, they die. This happens a lot but this time the high tide has brought the dead fish to the surface,” he said