LAHORE, March 28: The Punjab Environment Protection Department (EPD) held a collaborative research consultation meeting at a local hotel here on Wednesday. At the meeting, academics from various educational institutions gave their proposals on research projects pertaining to various environmental issues. Their short presentations included title of the project, its objectives, duration and estimated cost.

Minister concerned Dr Anjum Amjad apprised the meeting participants of the environment policies being pursued by the provincial government and the efforts made for their implementation.

EPD director-general Kamran Ali Khan in his keynote address threw light on the aims and objectives of the exercise.

The proposals on projects ranging from creating public awareness on treatment of industrial and municipal waste to health hazards related to overuse of fertilizers and pesticides were presented during the meeting.

EPD director Dr Shagufta Shahjehan says the department will approach the planning and development authorities to seek bloc allocation for the research projects proposed by the academics.

Dr Nasir Ahmad from the Punjab University spoke on new technologies evolved for treating industrial and municipal waste. He said the conventional methods were proving ineffective in safe disposal of pollutants. The handling of the sludge generated through the use of these methods was becoming another nuisance, he added.

Dr Saleema Bashir from Kinnaird College was of the view that teachers should be motivated for creating awareness on environment issues among their students as well as the masses.

According to the proposed project, teachers, initially from 25 schools, will be invited to join a three-week training course on 11 environment-related subjects during the coming summer vacation. She suggested Rs5,000 allowance for the each participating teacher as an incentive.

Dr Rukhsana Bajwa from the Mycology and Plant Pathology Department of Punjab University presented two projects; one on study of toxic parthenium weed used in floral bouquets and the other on use of fungi for treating heavy metal pollution caused by industries employing electroplating method.

She warned that parthenium weed problem should be taken seriously as it had already caused heavy financial losses in Australia and India and was likely to damage agriculture and livestock sector in Pakistan too if not checked immediately.

Dr Riaz Saleemi from PU’s Chemical Engineering department stressed for promoting biogas and backyard composting to help tackle the ever-increasing solid municipal waste problem.

Dr Jehangir Sial from University of Agriculture Faisalabad discussed his project on converting sludge into bio-fertilizer and monitoring sub-soil water contamination. He was of the view that a 20-kg bag of bio-fertilizer could be produced at a cost of just Rs13.

Dr Tariq Mahmood Ansari from Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, gave a presentation on the chemical pollution and decline in raptors’ population.

Dr Shakil Ahmed of PU discussed monitoring of bio-pollutants at Lahore hospitals, while Dr jehangir of LUMS proposed internet environment watch by volunteers. Dr Khursheed Ahmed from NCBA spoke on his project concerning pollution of surface water.