KARACHI: Suparco team to assess damage to environment
KARACHI, Oct 30: Mohammad Noman Saigal, Adviser to the Chief Minister on Environment, has said that he would leave for northern areas of the country along with a team of Suparco this week to assess the damage caused by the October 8 earthquake to the environment.
He was talking to a group of industrialists in his office here on Sunday after his week-long visit to the quake-ravaged areas.
Mr Saigal said the Suparco team would also take into account the harmful affects on human body of the ultra-violate rays that might have emitted from the x-ray machines crushed under the debris in the earthquake zone.
He said that five water filter plants were being installed in Bagh, Balakot and Mansehra by the Ministry of Environment in collaboration with Unicef to provide clean drinking water to quake survivors. These plants would start functioning in the next week, he added.
The adviser said he was in contact with the foreign companies manufacturing artificial limbs, adding that the supply of these limbs to hospitals in quake-hit areas would be expedited.
He called upon the businessman community to contribute generously to the quake relief funds to mitigate the sufferings of the affected people.
Mr Saigal said that due to the start of winter, there was a great need for warm clothes and tents for the survivors.
DISASTER MANAGEMENT: Now when the massive earthquake has left a trail of destruction, ruination and devastation in northern Pakistan, the government should take steps on a top priority basis for disaster management for earthquake-prone areas.
This was stated by Ms Shahida Farooq, chairperson of an NGO, Subh-e-Nau, in a statement on Sunday. She particularly made mention of major cities, Karachi and Lahore having a population of more than 20 million souls, saying that in Karachi, 52 per cent of its population lived in katchi abadis.
Referring to the initiation of work on disaster management plans, she pointed out that there were three fault lines in Karachi which houses a large number of high-rise buildings. She stressed the need for pay immediate attention to the safety and preventive measures to avert heavy casualties and massive destruction in the event of a calamity in the city.
She also observed that most of the multi-storeyed buildings in Karachi had five-inch columns which might not afford a severe jolt. As a first step, she said, a survey of all buildings and structures be conducted to determine their strength. Such buildings should to be strengthened before implementing any long- term disaster management plan.
Places should also be identified where people could be accommodated in case of an emergency that might render a huge number of people homeless, she said.
She highlighted the importance of tree plantation in minimizing the impact of natural disasters and said that her organization had long been stressing on such campaigns for Karachi and other cities. Coastal areas of Thatta and Badin districts, she added, were among the areas where a massive tree plantation campaign was needed.
Keeping in view the havoc unleashed by recent tsunami, construction of high-rises and major residential complexes close to the coastline needed to be discouraged in order to avoid heavy losses, she said.
AKU teams: A fifth team of the Aga Khan University doctors, along with volunteers from the Mother & Child Care Trust, established a camp at Garhi Habibullah on Wednesday last to vaccinate women and children against infectious diseases, including typhoid, hepatitis-A and measles.
A statement issued here on Sunday said this was the second AKU team which had been working in this hilly area which had received limited relief goods and medical assistance due to access problems.
It said that most of the AKU team members were paediatricians and were working in close coordination with the Aga Khan Health Service, Pakistan chapter, and would continue to provide their services in the area and the villages surrounding it for about a year.
An AKU team of orthopaedic and gynaecological experts is also engaged in rapid assessment and relief as well as primary prevention of childhood ailments through vaccination. The team will also train community volunteers in maternal and child care with an aim of establishing strong community links for future reconstruction.
Chairman of the AKU Department of Paediatrics Prof Zulfiqar Bhutta has observed that over half the deaths and injuries caused in the quake appeared to have been inflicted on children and adolescents. —APP
