KNUT DEN MAKTIGE, King of England, Denmark and Norway, commonly known as Canute the Great of England (1016-1035) was surrounded by sycophantic courtiers who never failed to flatter him. You are the greatest man in the world, one would tell him. Another, there is nothing you cannot do. And another, you are the monarch of all.

A sensible man, Canute, he soon grew tired of this insane flattery and decided one fine day to put an end to it. Walking by the seashore, with the chatterers trotting out their usual praise, he asked them if it were their contention that all things obey him. Absolutely, they toadied in unison. ‘Right,’ said the king, 'bring me a chair, and put it close to the sea, right at the water’s edge.’ He sat down. ‘The tide is coming in,’ he said. ‘Will it stop if I command it to so do?’ The flatterers dare not say no. ‘Give the order, they said, ‘and the sea will obey.’

‘Right,’ said Canute. ‘Oh mighty waves, stop your rolling. Come no closer’, he cried. The waves advanced and lapped his feet. Again, he commanded that it stop. In answer another wave swept forward, and another, and another until he was almost knee deep in water.

He turned to his foolish courtiers. 'It seems that I am not as powerful as you think,’ he told to them, smiling. 'Perhaps now you have learned something and perhaps you will now reserve your flattery and praise for the one who is all powerful and rules all, the seas included.’

This little story used to be taught to young children in schools when they were first introduced to history, so that from an early age they would learn to beware of false flattery. It seems that President General Pervez Musharraf missed out on this one.The General, no fundo he, can take on the Taliban if he wishes to so do, and the same with the bigots and unenlightened. Reason having finally failed, logic and reasoning being no match for fanaticism, he has at last taken on the mullahs of the Lal Masjid.

What he seemingly does not realise, his sycophantic supporters having got the better of him, is that statements made recklessly can do much harm. He cannot fight nature, he should not try to fight the environment. The present floods are merely forerunners of things to come.

A few months ago, while inaugurating Bagh-e-Ibn-e-Qasim (Jehangir Hormuzjee Kothari’s Clifton reborn!) the general was critical of environmentalists. He stated: “If we cut the trees, we will plant double the number and we will plant better trees”. Perhaps he did not realise that during his tenure, Pakistan has lost a further 15 per cent of its forest cover.

Way back in 2004, while performing one of those ubiquitous ‘ground-breaking’ ceremonies, this time of the Karachi DHA Cogeneration Plant, he lavished mush praise on the “visionary plan” of the waterfront developments being undertaken by the DHA. According to a report in the DHA Newsletter of August that year, he directed that issues impeding development be swept away. “He further emphasised that all incentives and facilitation should be provided to developers so that favourable investment climate within the country is utilised by foreign investors. He especially emphasised that 'paralysis through analysis’ be countered.

Now, did he know that this desalination plant located on the sea shore of DHA Phase 8, had not been granted the mandatory Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) clearance? Undoubtedly not, as his acolytes would have been silent on the subject. Disaster is anticipated.

Writing in the press on June 28, Isa Daudpota, an Islamabad physicist with an interest in environmental issues states: “EIA compares the various alternatives for the project and seeks to identify the one which represents the best combination of economic and environmental costs and benefits. It proposes measures to mitigate immediate and projected adverse environmental effects of projects. By considering the environmental effects early in the project planning cycle, there is an optimal use of resources and saving of time and cost. Moreover, properly conducted EIA lessens conflicts through promoting community participation.

“In an 80-page World Bank report of Aug 2006 entitled 'Pakistan Strategic Country Environmental Assessment’ (available on the internet) the current state of the environmental oversight has been assessed and recommendations have been provided for improvement. The World Bank report focuses on the concerns in the context of growth and urbanisation. The measured tone of the report does not hide the very serious environmental problems that this country faces. The most devastating statistics is that environmental degradation is equivalent to six per cent of our GDP, or approximately Rs. 365 billion per year. Given that GDP growth per capita in 2005 was 5.2 per cent, this is wiped out by the environmental damage we are causing ourselves”.

Senator Nisar Memon, Chairman of the Standing Committee on Defence and Defence Production, presented to the Senate, this past June 16, a ‘Report on Pollution in Karachi Harbour and areas around PAF bases at Karachi’.

The Navy has complained that a 30 per cent reduction in the life of their warships is anticipated because of accelerated corrosion, costing some US one billion dollar over their lifetime. This is caused by 400 million gallons per day of untreated raw sewage that pours into the sea from rivers and nallahs, rendering the harbour a basin of chemicals.

The Air Force has complained that they have lost 12 fighter planes over the past year and a half, each costing between US $ 10 and 25 million, because of accidents with birds in the take-off and landing flight paths. The proliferation of scavenging birds around Faisal and Masroor bases is generated by heaps of uncollected garbage and industrial waste.

The Standing Committee found that environment protection laws were plenty, but enforcement was practically non-existent, especially by the Sindh Environment Protection Agency (SEPA).

Then we come to the Karachi Elevated Expressway (KEE). Virtually all members of the ‘committee of experts’ constituted to review the EIA of this pet project of the present Sindh government and administration were handpicked government officials or consultants. Should not 50 per cent of them have been from the objecting private sector?

The NOC issued for the KEE by SEPA has numerous conditions. Many of these were pre-requisites, such as: planning of traffic diversions / alternate routes / detours (in coordination with traffic police) and the adoption of appropriate construction techniques to ensure smooth traffic flow during building; re-planning of the Rashid Minhas Road / Shahrae Faisal intersection; re-planning of the KEE extremities and entry / exit points (especially at Quaidabad); land acquisition difficulties at entry / exist points, increase in height at Club Road; mechanical ventilation system for lower level expressway, sound barriers near residential areas; design of large crossing spans at bridges to avoid puncturing of deck slabs; detailed traffic analyses at intersections comprehensive waste disposal plan; best available practices for the control of noise / vibration during construction; resolution of all social and conflicting issues submitted by objectors; coordination with other civic agencies for relocation of infrastructure, appointment of independent environmental monitoring consultant; etc.

Karachi’s City District Government must be told to submit complete details and designs of how it would comply with these pre-requisites before, repeat before, the SEPA NOC is granted and work started and life disturbed.

Additionally, some form of guarantee must be obtained to ensure that during and post-construction conditions such as the restoration of the median green-belt, the non-disurbance of visitors to hotels / graveyards / protected heritage sites, control of dust emissions, etc. are all met.

As this is being written, news has it that the recently inducted good chief secretary of the province of Sindh, Shakil Durrani, has been shot out by his woolly chief minister, Arbab Rahim. Durrani had opposed the CM’s land deal involving the selling of over 68 acres of prime land at 25 per cent of its market value to a gold merchant – a sale which would have destroyed or degraded the ancient Chowkandi tombs situated nearby Gold! Arbab should read up on King Midas.

Someone, somewhere must do something to stop the mass environmental degradation underway all over the country – from the northernmost tip to the southernmost, and from east to west. General Musharraf being the sole ‘someone’ who counts and who can actually initiate any movement on any front, has to be the man. A digestion of the Canute the Great moral tale might help him in discerning who is advising him to do what and why.