KARACHI, June 6: Speakers at a workshop on Better Environment — Better Life stressed the need for breaking political inertia to get rid of environmental problems, including water pollution.

They came up with the notion that unless government was moved, clean, safe and healthy water for the people of urban and rural areas could not be ensured.

The workshop was organized by Pakistan Association of Scientists and Scientific Professions (PASSP) at its premises in Gulshan-i-Iqbal on Friday. Dr Mirza Arshad Ali Beg presided over the workshop and also presented his paper on Social Pollution And Its Eradication.

In her presentation on Hygienic And Clean Drinking Water, Dr Yazdana M. Rizki, the chief scientific officer, PCSIR, discussed the situation related to the freshwater and held that availability of freshwater and wholesome water always remained a problem in big cities like Karachi. She apprehended that obsolete and poorly-managed sewerage system continued to be a source of health-hazards for the consumers of piped water that most often appeared polluted or contaminated.

She pointed out that sewage-mixed water contained pathogenic and non-pathogenic microorganisms causing enterobacterial diseases, including dysentery, cholera, typhoid, diarrhoea and hepatitis, to the consumers. Quoting WHO findings, she said that a large number of people in poor countries died at an early age from infectious and enterobacterial diseases.

The Dean Faculty of Science, University of Karachi, Dr Altaf Khan, said: “Water is the most abundant commodity on Earth, yet it is being misused. However, only a very tiny fraction of the globally available water is free from contamination and fit for human consumption.”

He attributed the water contaminated with microorganism and toxic chemicals, particularly in the developing countries, to poor planning and lack of technology.

Healthy water, meant for human consumption, is the basis of economic growth and development and as such there is a greater need than ever before to address the problems related to water hygiene and sanitation, he remarked.

The secretary general of PASSP, Khalid Ali Khan, discussed the process of human development and its contribution towards achieving sustainable development and clean environment. He held that the three pillars of human development were economic growth, social development and environmental protection.

Highlighting the environmental protection strategies, he said that in order to help conserve the natural resources, industrial sector could play a significant role. While industries are expected to reduce their liquid, solid and gaseous wastes, we must make efforts for planting more trees, growing more forests, and ensuring clean drinking water for people, as these are essential for human development and better environment, he concluded.

Dr Arshad Ali Beg, the former DG of PCSIR, expressed his concern over the prevailing state of affairs and global phenomena of ‘talking much and doing less’. He observed that the industrialized countries, despite their rhetorics on environmental issues, were miserably failing in ensuring a safe, healthy and clean global environment.

Earlier, in his address of welcome, Vice President of PASSP Riazul Hassan Khan, highlighted the activities of his organization and maintained that its main objective was to ensure application of science and technology for development of natural resources leading to the economic wellbeing of the nation.