HYDERABAD: Sindh Irrigation and Drainage Authority’s chairman, Kabool Mohammad Khatian, has said that climate change has become a serious challenge for Pakistan as it is having negative impact on all areas of environment besides water.
He said while speaking to a delegation of Sindh Climate Action Network (SCAN) at Sida secretariat here on Wednesday that the network’s campaign for tree plantation would help tackle the negative impacts of climate change.
He said the trees were planted easily but it was difficult to nurture them over a long period of time. It was time to grow more and more plants and take care of them as well, he said.
SCAN head M. Parkash advocate said that the purpose of this network was to respond to challenges of the climate change. The network created awareness among people about the problem, its consequences, losses and how to respond to it, he said.
He said that SCAN would strive for introducing legislation on climate change. The network had also representation of different religious groups, who sensitised people and communities on the gravity of the problem, advantages of tree plantation and harms of water wastage, he said.
Kanwal Manzoor of Oxfam said that the network had representation of government, civil society, religious parties and education sector and was thus reflective of exemplary religious harmony as well.
Strengthening Participatory Organisation programme manager, Shiva Ram, said that SCAN had planted trees in large numbers at various places of worship, including seminaries, temples, mosques and churches and managements of these institutions had taken care of these plants, which had grown now. Around 5,000 trees had been planted thus far and the process continued, he said.
Pushpa Kumari, rights activist, said that small efforts would have to be undertaken instead of depending on government alone to keep the environment clean.
Published in Dawn, August 24th, 2023