Polluted Manchar Lake needs help

THE Manchar Lake is being destroyed by dumping waste water into it. There is an urgent need to treat this water because of the badly-planned World Bank project. The lake is a source of drinking water for people living near the lake. People downstream from Dadu, including Sehwan, Hyderabad and Karachi, are being affected. The level of pollution is so alarming that many people have died due to polluted water. Millions of tons of fishes are found and caught by local fishermen, and supplied to fish markets all over the country and exported as a source of affordable high protein food. The Manchar Lake is a reservoir to store hundreds of millions of cubic feet of water. However, over the years due to silting its capacity has been greatly reduced but, with a little cost and proper continuous dredging, this problem can also be solved. All the silt taken out of the lake can be used to raise the walls by 20 feet to ensure more and cleaner water-storage capacity. The Manchar lake is a source of accumulating rainwater from the vast Kirthar mountain range. After rains, the Manchar Lake stores the rainwater, while it can also accommodate floodwater. However, the flood diversion is possible after lake dredging is done by 20 feet and lake walls are raised. Pakistan cannot allow hundreds of millions of cubic feet of water to go to waste. So, steps to accumulate water must be taken, especially in view of water scarcity. I hope that a scheme to treat wastewater being dumped in the Manchar Lake will be prepared as soon as possbile in order to reduce silt, while a wall around the lake above floodwater levels is built. Z.H. EFFENDI Karachi.

He said that unfortunately only five per cent of forestry could be seen on the ground, adding that agro-forestry had greatly been decreased. He warned that if any damage was caused to Sukkur Barrage in the next floods, the entire agricultural system would be destroyed. He said Phulelli canal water was extremely harmful to human life and the concerned authorities know about this fact but no action had been taken in the matter. A professor of Quaid-i-Awam University and environmentalist, Riaz Memon said that Siachen glacier was the biggest in the world which was melting very fast. He said Indian army had constructed a helipad at the glacier as a result which its melting speed had further increased. Sometime back, this glacier used to collect 80 per cent snow while only 20 per cent snow melted but now the situation had reversed, he said and added that India, Pakistan and Bangladesh would be seriously affected due to this reversal. General Secretary of Hyderabad Press Club, Ishaque Mangrio, Professor Abdul Khaliq Ansari of MUET, Akash Santwarai, Shoukat Ali Soomro and others also spoke on the occasion. Expressing their concern over the ever-increasing environmental pollution in the country, they called upon the people from all walks of life to launch a joint struggle against environmental pollution. The seminar on Forest: Nature at your service was sponsored by Hamdam Development and Welfare Organisation.

Ineffective turtles

protection

of

green

Steps urged

to

check

deforestation

RECENTLY the Sindh government announced that it has released three million rupees for the protection of green turtles during the current financial year. Whenever such announcements are made, these green turtles vanish from markets. But after a passage of some time, green turtles and tortoises are easily available. If the government is serious about protecting turtles, it should then check the Empress Market, Karachi, and other places where these turtles are openly available without any check. MUBASHIR MAHMOOD Karachi. MITHI, June 8: A large number of social workers and friends of environment have urged the provincial authorities and the district government to take serious notice of massive chopping of tress in Tharparkar district which was adding to desertification and land degradation besides depriving people of their source of livelihood.

HYDERABAD, June 8: The country will suffer huge losses during the next five years if steps were not taken to check deforestation. This warning came from environmentalists at a seminar here on Tuesday. The seminar was held in connection with the World Environment Day at the press club here on Tuesday. The National Coordinator of the UNDP-GEF Masood Lohar said Pakistan was signatory to the UNO convention on environment, therefore, it was its responsibility to plant forests on 20 per cent of its land.

Tree chopping desertification in Thar

intensifies

All children from six to 59 months presenting to the hospital having a confirmed history of acute unintentional exposure to hydrocarbons within the past two hours will be eligible for study. A doctor privy to the meeting said that once the project was approved, the study investigators would undergo proper training. From that point, he said, the project duration was dependent on the caseload at the selected facility, the distribution of severity and the portion of eligible patients who agreed to be enrolled.

Talking to Dawn, Obhayo Junejo, Ali Nawaz Hingorjo, Dolatram Khatri, Bharumal Amarani and Malji Rathore, said that Tharparkar district is one of the five grand eco regions of the country. However, ruthless and unabated cutting of valuable trees on such a large scale for the last few decades by influential mafia had dealt a deadly blow to the eco system besides putting livelihood of the people of the district and their livestock at stake. They accused henchmen of influential mafia of destroying thousands of Gugral (camiphora mukal) trees during the last few years by applying chemical cuts at these trees for extracting its gum in an unnatural way. However, relevant authorities have failed to initiate action against the destroyers of these trees. They said that chopping of Kumbhat, Rohiro, Neem, Khabar, Kandi, Bharh and other valuable trees was going on without any check. They sought immediate measures to stop cutting of trees, declare Karoonjher hilly area as national park and take action against destroyers of gugral trees by applying chemical cuts.

Sewage renders impassable

many

areas

FAISALABAD, June 8: Residents of Ghulam Mohammadabad, Sidhupura, Rashidabad, Bilalnagar, Weaver Colony and other adjacent localities are facing a great deal of inconvenience for over a week or so as a major road and streets are submerged by filthy water. During a round of the area, this correspondent observed that foul smell of the stagnant dirty water had made the life of area people miserable. A number of motorists and bikers having no familiarity with the area have met with accidents particularly at night. Students of the nearby government primary school are also facing problems as they get their uniforms and school bags littered with mud while crossing the road. A foundation stone erected along the road indicated that sewer lines had been laid at a cost of Rs18 million, a special grant from former senior minister Raja Riaz. The minister had also inaugurated the scheme -- Jamil Town-Faizabad. Owing to the dilapidated condition of the road, a number of shopkeepers have shifted their businesses to other localities. Usman Ali, who has been running a renta-motorcycle shop on the road, says he had shifted his shop because the road was dug up for laying sewer pipes. Now after completion, the road is submerged by dirty water. Another shopkeeper, Taj, says the area has also become a breeding ground for mosquitoes. In June 2006, according to Taj, gastroenteritis had broken out in Ghulam Muhammadabad owing to mixing of dirty water with the drinking water supply lines laid by Wasa. Resultantly, eight people lost their lives and many were admitted to hospitals. He says the respective authorities have time and again been informed to look into the matter but to no avail.

WHO to study ingestion in children

hydrocarbon
Organisation hydrocarbon delegation of purpose on

FAISALABAD, June 8: The World Health intends to carry out a study to ascertain ingestion in young children and a two-member the WHO visited Allied Hospital for this Wednesday.

They held talks with principal Dr Riaz Husain, Dr Zahid Yasin Hashmi, Dr Asghar Butt, Dr Khurram Sohail Raja and Dr Mohammad Irfan for research. WHO officials apprised doctors of the study purpose titled Validation of clinical predictors of severity of accidental poisoning from hydrocarbons in children below five years old. They said the unintentional hydrocarbon ingestion in young children had repeatedly been identified as an important reason for pediatric hospitalization and morbidity. Studies in developing countries suggested poisonings represented up to two per cent of all pediatric hospital admissions and that kerosene aspiration might represent half of all poison admissions in the group of five-year old. The study was designed as a prospective, observational study to be conducted at the Allied Hospital which had a moderate pediatric hydrocarbon caseload, they added.