LAHORE: World Wide Fund for Nature Pakistan (WWF-Pakistan) in collaboration with Cleaner Production Institute (CPI) organised a training workshop on Best Water Management Practices (BWMPs) for leather industries at the Sialkot Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI).

The workshop was part of WWF-Pakistan’s European Union-funded project ‘City-wide Partnership for Sustainable Water Use and Water Stewardship in SMEs in Lahore, Pakistan’, according to a press release.

The workshop was attended by general managers and engineers from 26 industries. It was aimed at training local industrialists on the efficient use of water and energy through BWMPs in the light of lessons learnt from industrial audits and national and international best practices.

Participants were informed regarding the environmental as well as economic benefits of applying different BWMPs at the enterprise level.

Sohail Ali Naqvi, senior project officer at WWF-Pakistan, gave an overview of the project and informed the participants about the blue water footprint.

Kashif Gillani of the CPI delivered training on BWMPs in the leather sector and highlighted areas where water was commonly wasted and suggested relevant BWMPs.

He added that these water management practices had a strong business case that was reflected in the financial and environmental gains achieved by pilot industries.

SCCI Vice President Malik Naseer said: “Keeping the current environmental challenges in mind, the workshop will be helpful for industries to achieve sustainable development.”

He added, “In addition to economic factors, the social factors of water conservation are equally important as water is everybody’s business and water conservation should be adopted for the sustainable management of water resources.”

Published in Dawn, April 18th, 2015

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