ISLAMABAD, March 6: Federal Minister for Science and Technology Dr Attaur Rehman said the government had approved projects worth Rs300 million to solve the issues of water scarcity and quality in the country.

In this regard, a proposal to spend further Rs400 million was under consideration by the government, the minister said while speaking at the inaugural ceremony of a two-day seminar on “Strategies to address the present and future water quality issues”, jointly organized by Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC), Pakistan Council for Research in Water Resources (PCRWS), Pakistan Institute of Chemists (PIC) and United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (Unicef) here on Wednesdays.

Pointing out the problems related to untreated water, the minister said there were 500 million people suffering from diarrhoea because of the use of untreated water. In Pakistan, 30 to 40 per cent patients were admitted to hospitals for treatment of diseases caused by the use of contaminated water, he added.

The minister underlined the efforts of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission for its valuable role for protection of water resources and improvement of water quality.

The PAEC was establishing various scientific and engineering projects for this purpose, he added. Dr Atta said the technique to bring saline water lands under cultivation was a big success of the PAEC.

Dr Atta said at present people needed clean drinking water, good quality food and housing facilities in the country. He, however, pointed out that education could resolve all these problems.

In this regard, the federal minister urged the scientists, engineers and educationists to play active role for the promotion of primary and higher education particularly in the field of science and technology.

The minister also called upon the participants of the seminar to present specific proposals for the improvement of water resources and its quality in their papers and subsequent discussions.

In his welcome speech, the PAEC chairman, Pervez Butt, said only inter-organizational efforts could meet the challenge of gigantic problem of water scarcity and its quality.

Mr Butt said the PAEC had always been on the forefront of contributing to the scientific and technological development and exchanges of information with other organizations for this purpose.

The PAEC chairman opined that water problem should not be looked at politically and economically perspectives as it was our basic requirement. The water resources should be conserved and protected from pollution for the human consumption, he added. —APP