HYDRABAD:
Water and soil experts expressed grave concern over the drainage and discharge polluted water from the Indus River, the colonisation of green fields, and the increasing salinity in the Aquifers.
On Friday, the Faculty of Agricultural Engineering of Sindh Agriculture University in Tandojam hosted a seminar on World Earth Day. The participants discussed climate change, temperature, and non-seasonal rains.
They stated that all forms of pollution are extremely dangerous to the environment and human health. They emphasized that everyone should be environmentally conscious and practice the green planting of trees.
Prof Fateh Marri, Vice Chancellor of SAU, stated that “the dangerous consequences from rising temperatures and climate changes are beginning to emerge.” He said that the changes have caused a decline in agricultural products. He said that the country has seen a decline of mango and wheat production.
He said that water scarcity was also affecting rural economics to the tune billions of rupees annually as the agricultural land became barren, and the sea began to encroach on the land due low river water release. “These problems have been affecting all humankind.” [globally]. It is therefore essential that everyone works together to protect the planet.
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Professor Rasool Bux Mahar of Mehran University Engineering and Technology is the head of the US Pakistan Center for Advanced Studies in Water. He said that irrigation techniques and water use in the field can help prevent agricultural land from becoming dry and saline. He also stressed the need to recycle domestic wastewater. He was disappointed that urban dwellers are not interested in planting trees or turning their neighborhoods green. “We are now facing environmental degradation, low rainfall, and other problems.”
Professor Altaf Ali Sial is the Dean of Faculty of Agricultural Engineering. He is a water expert and said that riverine forests and mangroves have been destroyed to get the resources. He stated that the unabated release of toxic water from residential, commercial, and industrial areas of the Indus River has caused a sharp increase in the levels of arsenic as well as other toxins in river water. He stated that the polluted water causes agricultural land to be destroyed and people who drink the river’s waters without purification.
He stressed the importance of federal, provincial, institutional, and general public responsibility for protecting the land. Dr Abdul Ghafoor Siyal and Dr Muneer Mandar, Dr Mashooq Tarpur, and Amanullah Tanio all spoke out on the occasion. The seminar also featured a scientific poster competition, and an awareness rally was held on campus at the end of the event.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 23, 2009.rd, 2022.