Over 100 undiscovered mud volcanoes off Makran coast await officials, explorers

Staring the journey off Karachi just shy of Friday sunrise after settling ourselves in a 4×4 SUV we zoomed, by means of Lyari Expressway and then the Hub River Road, towards Makran Coastal Highway that after some and after a total 200-kilometer drive were already in the midst of Pakistan’s largest Hingol National Park (HNP)– home to our prime trip destination Chandragup mud volcano and to find there are hundreds taller, bigger than it waiting to be found, mapped and benefitted from.

The SUV, also referred to as a mud surfer and rightly so for it was the most suitable ride for driving us into a terrain, below which lies the meeting point of two tectonic plates, is often shrouded in mud dunes, was wheeled by Mehdi Hussain, the host of the visit. Mehdi identifies as the founder and head of Karachi Astronomers’ Society (KAS) and has a penchant for all things science, as he puts it.

A bird-eye view peeking the mysterious crest of a dormant Chandragup volcano

It was his enthusiasm shared by few like-minded people that together helped discover mud-volcanoes with higher elevation and active volcanic activity than the erstwhile-highest Chandragup standing just 328-feet tall above sea level. A seashore, a smaller volcano mountain but with a wider crater, and a dormant volcano are in sight when one summits the 328-feet peak.

Mud oozing out of the volcanic vent streaming down, drying and this depositing on the mountian surface

There are two ways to reach the top and witness volcanic eruption at play

1) Meander around to the top and discover the details of a volcanic mountain and a cave network underneath the surface ridden with big and small burrow-like holes that can potentially devour anyone not cautious enough, and thus they keep you dancing on your toes.

Burrows-like holes on the surface of the volcanic mountain that make climbing it an industrious but adventurous foray

2) Or to take straight but lengthy stairs to the top. One thing is common whatever way you should choose to see how mud bubbles erupt at the crust laying atop and it’s that you’ll be gasping before you get there.

Trip host Mehdi Hussain in the middle clad in polo and cap taking stairs to the Chandragup top

However, Hussain assuredly says this peak is the only one that has mustered popularity and acknowledgment. It is in part because it was discovered well before the inception of Pakistan and largely also because it is one of the sacred places for Hindu pilgrimage “so due to the footfall and popularity it not only got recognized but was declared the tallest mud-volcano with a board claiming it erected at the footing”.

Distant shot capturing Hindu pilgrims climbing Chandragup peak marking the beginning of their holy visit to pay respects here before they move on to Hinglaj Mata temple to conclude their pilgrimage

He said just off the coast of Makran a few miles ahead of this Hindu holy site, there laid a hitherto undiscovered yet active volcanic mountain that stands five times taller than Chandragup. “Even this 1,500-feet tall active mud-volcano is not the tallest of the region but our officials have yet to heed.”

Frustrated, Hussain said he did not know whom to reach out to intimate of the discovery his group KAS materialized, for in this group already “there are quite a few people on the policy level and they, too, are unaware of these protocols”.

ALSO SEE: Meet Aansoo Bai Kolhi who is determined to eradicate illiteracy from her village

KAS goes sightseeing to explore the astronomical territory in the Pakistani skies but since the avidity with which Hussain pursues science, nature and exploration, he said he has found his niche. “I started out with literally Google Earth feature and since I was a geology aficionado from the get-go, I researched a lot sitting at home.”

He eventually found people who shared his passion. Now they have together found some 130 mud-volcanoes with claims there are no more left and there are no more anywhere else in Pakistan.

“But these sites have not even geo-mapped by google as volcanic sites, nor even our government acknowledges it.”

If taken seriously, these sites can do so much in terms of learning what is beneath us, he excited, said.

“These should help our geologists, mineralogists and archeologists, too, to compile data and extract information and you know how important these data-sets and knowledge are.”

While Hussain, working in this domain of geographical discovery for the past 15 years and focused significantly in Balochistan has fueled his interests with creating social media groups and putting together a cohort, he is doubtful things will change on the policy level.

He adds, “But before all that we need to first record them and declare them as such sites.”

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Foreign airlines directed to accommodate passengers, full ticket refunds

KARACHI: The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has issued notices to five foreign airlines for causing inconvenience to the passengers by the cancellation of flights to Pakistan, ARY News reported on Friday.

The foreign airlines include Qatar Airways, Turkish Airlines, Emirates, Etihad Airways and flydubai. The foreign air carriers operating in Pakistan have been given a deadline to resolve the issues of the passengers by July 8.

The CAA spokesperson said that the aviation authority reserved the right to take action against the airlines for causing inconvenience and financial losses to the passengers by flights’ cancellations.

READ: TWO INTERNATIONAL AIRLINES CANCEL US-PAKISTAN FLIGHTS AFTER CAA ADVISORY

Prior to the issuance of notices, the aviation authority took notice of the cancellation of flights by the foreign airlines after ARY News reported the troubles of the passengers who are willing to travel to Pakistan.

In the notice, CAA directed the concerned authorities to accommodate the affected passengers on the earliest possible flights of the same airlines or other airlines for travel to Pakistan besides providing hotel accommodation.

It also read that the tickets of the affected persons should be fully refunded in addition to the payment of compensation for the damages suffered by them.

READ: PAKISTAN ISSUES TRAVEL ADVISORY FOR INT’L INBOUND FLIGHTS

It was learnt that the airlines were expecting relaxation from Pakistan about the number of onboard passengers, but after the latest CAA travel advisory, both the airlines suddenly cancelled their scheduled flights.

Reacting to the situation, the spokespersons of the CAA, said that both the airlines did overbooking on the Pakistan-bound flights.

It is to be noted that the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) on Wednesday had issued a travel advisory for international flights amid the coronavirus pandemic, stating that only 20 flights would be operated in Pakistan till July 15.

The aviation authority stated in its latest order that 80 per cent of inbound international flights would be banned except the operations up to 20 per cent in accordance with the Summer 2021 schedule.

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Sindh reports 881 more COVID-19 cases, 19 deaths

KARACHI: At least 19 more people died from the coronavirus during the past 24 hours in sindh, bringing the province’s overall death toll from the virus to 5,497, ARY News reported.

In a daily statement on the COVID-19 situation, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said that 881 more cases of coronavirus have been reported during the same period in the province.

The chief minister said that of the 881 new cases, 454 were reported in Karachi.

Read More: SINDH SEES 24 COVID-19 FATALITIES, OVER 600 NEW CASES

Earlier on June 30, Sindh had reported 24 more deaths from coronavirus, lifting the death toll to 5,464.

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, in a daily statement on the coronavirus situation, had said 622 new cases emerged when 14,520 tests were conducted during the period.

He had added that 24 more patients of COVID-19 lost their lives lifting the death toll to 5,464 that constituted a 1.6 percent death rate.

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WATCH: Lightning bolt hits moving vehicle on highway

In a terrifying moment, a moving vehicle carrying a family was hit by a lightning bolt as the entire episode was caught on camera, leaving the citizens worried about their health.

The incident took place on June 25 and was recorded by Carl Hobi, who was behind the jeep that got hit by lightning. The clip was shared on several social media pages after being posted online.

According to details, the black SUV was carrying five passengers, including a three-year-old, a 1.5-year-old, and an eight-month-old. In the 13-second viral clip, the vehicle is seen moving on a road in heavy rain as a lightning bolt hits it.

While all the passengers were safe, the incident shook them. “They were in shock and the first thing they did was make sure the kids were okay and they were relieved that everyone was just fine,” Hobi told the local media.

Read More: WATCH: RAREST FORM OF LIGHTNING CAPTURED ON CAMERA

“The car was dead and stuck in gear and we could not get it in to [sic] neutral to push off the road. It will most likely be considered Totaled,” Hobi added.

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Sick as a dog? Pets often catch COVID from humans, study finds

AMSTERDAM: If you think you have COVID-19, it might be best to stay away from your pets, says the author of a Dutch study that found a surprising number of dogs and cats may be getting infected.

“About one out of five pets will catch the disease from their owners,” said Dr Els Broens of Utrecht University in the Netherlands, although there are no known cases of the disease spreading from pets to humans.

“Luckily, the animals do not get very ill from it.”

In Broens’ study, presented this week in a paper at the European Congress of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, 156 dogs and 154 cats from 196 households were tested in homes where humans were known to have had a coronavirus infection.

About 17% of the animals, 31 cats and 23 dogs, had antibodies for COVID-19, suggesting they had been infected.

In addition, six cats and seven dogs, or 4.2% of the animals, had an active infection as shown by a PCR test.

Later testing showed those animals recovered quickly and did not pass it on to other pets in the same household, Broens said.

COVID-19 is thought to originate in bats and it has been known since the first months of the pandemic that non-human mammals can be infected, but few become seriously ill.

Only minks are known to have been infected by humans and then passed the disease on to other humans.

Broens said the affection owners have for their cats and dogs may play a role in the pets’ high infection rates.

“A lot of the pet owners are in very close contact, like they sleep with their animals in their bed, so you can imagine that there’s close contact, so that transmission can take place,” she said.

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Bitcoin drops over 5% to $33,226.36

Bitcoin dropped 5.17% to $33,226.36 on Thursday, losing $1,810.87 from its previous close.

The world’s biggest and best-known cryptocurrency is down 48.8% from the year’s high of $64,895.22 hit on April 14.

Also Read: IS ANOTHER COUNTRY SET TO MAKE BITCOIN LEGAL TENDER?

Ether , the coin linked to the ethereum blockchain network, dropped 7.28% to $2,110.53 on Thursday, losing $165.81 from its previous close.

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Ring Road PC-I sent to Punjab govt without NHA approval

A new controversy was unearthed regarding the project concept (PC) I for the Ring Road as it has been learnt that National Highway Authority (NHA) had expressed reservations on the alignment in 2018. Sources told The Express Tribune that NHA’s biggest objection was the traffic load, according to which some 33,000 heavy vehicles would land on the Islamabad motorway daily from GT Road through the Ring Road. The authority had not issued a non-objection certificate (NOC) yet the PC I was sent to the Punjab government for final approval. NHA had expressed that such a high influx of vehicles would damage the structure of the motorway and increase the rush at toll plaza. The second objection raised by the authority was that the transporters using the Ring Road would have to pay toll tax at three spots over the 36-kms route and no transporter would be willing to pay it on such a short distance. Read 131b minted after RRR realignment: sources They maintained that the project cannot be implemented without NOC from the authority despite the government’s approval. Sources added the NHA is a federal body that cannot be taken into confidence at the provincial level. Over the objections raised by NHA, a senior officer of Ring Road Project Management Unit (PMU) told The Express Tribune that the project would be constructed on the previous alignment. He added that the administration would address NHA’s concerns through negotiations once PC I is approved. Published in The Express Tribune, July 2nd, 2021.

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