STAFF REPORT KHI: Mangroves have successfully established their effective role in minimizing the natural disasters like cyclones on at shores as well as strong winds and also in protecting the sea life as they provide shelter to most of the sea animals.
In Pakistan about 90 per cent of mangroves are in Sindh province which is the main reason the province has been spared of disastrous cyclones while Baluchistan has been devastated on many occasions.
“The reason mangroves have thrived in Sindh is that it requires a mixture of river and sea water which has been possible in Sindh due to abundant Indus water,” said an official attached with the coastal life protection activities.
But sadly they have been diminishing in Sindh also due to extensive irrigation and lack of water release in Indus delta, said.
According to him, unplanned urban growth and pollution has also contributed to the rapid deforestation of mangroves. Karachi City government has been planning to develop Karachi skyline and it puts mangroves at great risk and activists from different backgrounds have been protesting for long.
Government officials have such a misunderstanding about mangroves that they infamously proposed activists to plant mangroves elsewhere in Karachi.