31 July 2004	Saturday	13 Jamadi-us-Saani 1425

KARACHI, July 30: The Shahida Welfare Trust (SWT) has undertaken an environment curriculum study as part of its ongoing efforts against fast environmental degradation in the country, according to Shahida Farooq, chairperson of the Trust.

Addressing a press conference here on Friday, she appealed to people to plant at least one tree while marking the country's Independence Day on August 14. She said that the SWT was carrying out a study of cost-effective desalination plants that suited our own conditions and environment.

The study, she added, was being conducted by Dr Farrukh and Dr Jawad who had joined the Trust after completing their studies abroad to play their due role in bringing about an improvement in the fast-degrading environmental conditions in the country, particularly in Karachi.

Ms Farooq pointed out that environmental pollution here had reached a highly dangerous level and it was for this reason that people were falling victims to polluted water and poisonous gases.

She stressed that the 'war against pollution' could be won only with trees, and observed that water contamination and air pollution were the root-cause of all diseases extremely harmful to human being.

She called on masses to fight pollution as a mission individually and collectively in order to ensure success. Trees could play a key role in changing weather conditions and neutralize the effects of global warming, besides checking drought and floods, she said.

Referring to the international warning that future wars would be fought for water, she said that tree plantation on a large scale could avoid such wars as the areas with massively grown up trees usually received heavy rains. -APP