KARACHI, Apr 20 (NNI): Expressing concern over changed weather pattern
in the country, particularly early heat wave in Karachi, Pasban
Democratic Party (PDP) Chairman Altaf Shakoor here Sunday warned that
more intense heat waves are ahead if an aggressive tree plantation drive
is not carried out on urgent basis.
Government doesn’t seem ready to handle heatwave emergency. Lives are
precious and can be saved if government shows some responsible behavior.
How long NGOs will provide coverage to had governance?
He said in 2015 thousands of people died in Karachi in a major heat
wave, but the government and society didn’t learn any lesson. He said
ten years have already passed to that tragedy but no solid action is
taken to increase tree cover in Karachi. He said the megacity needs
millions of new trees and steps should be taken at the government and
community level without wasting more time.
He said urban forestry is the answer to this challenge as a large number
of trees could be planted under forestry model. He said Lyari and Malir
Rivers and long beach of Karachi are ideal places for urban forestry. He
said rooftop greenery is another solution to this issue. He said we
should adopt the Singapore model of rooftop plantation, where every
building is required to ensure rooftop greenery.
Altaf Shakoor said growing pollution is also playing a role in climate
change including heat wave. Smoke from factories and old road unfit
vehicles must be controlled. He said the government has to play a
pivotal role in this regard. The environmental control agencies and
departments should be purged from corruption so that they could
discharge their duties without fear or favor. He said in fact every
government department needs honest officials and corruption at every
level of bureaucracy is eroding our society.
He said we should also improve our healthcare sector to deal with sudden
emergencies like heat waves. He said the government hospitals paint the
picture of bad governance and corruption. He said doctors and paramedics
don’t attend duty regularly. Medicines are sold in market and mostly
medical and lab equipment are not kept in working order to facilitate
private laboratories and institutions. He said the ministers and
government officers themselves don’t go to the government hospitals for
their own treatment or treatment of their families. He said the
government itself is responsible for this sad state of affairs.
He said that heat waves, droughts and intense flooding are the result of
climate change and environmental degrading plays a crucial role in it.
He said the government and society must play their role to cope with the
situation to save lives and health of citizens