SIALKOT: A delegation of more than 100 Sikh pilgrims from the USA, the UK and Canada on Thursday visited Gurdwara Babey Di Beri.

The pilgrims performed their religious rites, distributed dole-outs and exchanged gifts there.

Sardar Jaskaran Singh Sidhu (caretaker of Gurdwara Babey Di Beri) accorded a warm welcome to the visitors. He said all religions of the world preached love, peace, affection, solidarity, respect of humanity, tolerance and religious harmony.

Among the visitors were Sardar Manmohan Singh and Pareet Kaur who said there was no doubt that Pakistan was a peaceful country and its people were known around the world for hospitality.

The pilgrims also visited Gurdwara Rori Sahib at Eimanabad and performed their rituals.

WATER ISSUE: Water experts of the WWF-Pakistan have shared information and sensitised Sialkot exporters about the growing water consumption challenges.

At a day-long awareness session, the WWF-Pakistan experts asked the exporters to take all necessary measures in the factories in a bid to avert the unnecessary usage of water by using alternative water consumption resources even for their industrial production.

The WWF-Pakistan organised an awareness-raising session on “City-wide partnership for water stewardship and sustainable water use in the city” at the auditorium of the Sialkot Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI).

SCCI SVP Waqas Akram Awan who presided over the event said this partnership could play a pivotal role in strengthening relationships between stakeholders as it would also provide a platform to discuss the environmental problems of the city.

The participants were told that the WWF-Pakistan had conducted a study to identify water issues of Sialkot.

It was already implementing a project “International Labour and Environmental Standards (ILES) Application in Pakistan’s SMEs” in Sialkot industry in active collaboration with the International Labour Organization (ILO).

Officials said this European Union (EU) funded project spanning over six years (2017-2022) would promote sustainable and inclusive growth in Sialkot by facilitating economic integration of the country into the global and regional economy via improved compliance with labour and environmental standards and increased competitiveness.

Muhammad Atif (Project Director Sialkot Tannery Zone) gave detailed presentation on “Water Management in Industries and Business Risk”.

WWF-Pakistan’s Manager Suhail Ali Naqvi gave presentation on situational analysis of water resources (Sialkot water issues, challenges and mitigation).

Senior officials Adeel Younas and Jawad Shafiq also participated in the open house discussions. They urged the participants to come forward and play their role in creating maximum public awareness about environmental safety and provision of pollution-free water to the future generations by purging the society of pollution.

Published in Dawn, March 29th, 2019