MINGORA/CHITRAL: Students and civil society members staged awareness walks and functions in connection with the World Water Day on Friday and stressed the importance of conservation of water.

In Mingora, students of various schools and civil society members held a walk which was organised by STEP organisation.

They were holding banners and placards inscribed with slogans calling for proper use and conservation of water.

The participants said that the world was passing through severe environmental changes and the issue of water shortage was getting acute. They said that many people in the world were living without safe water.

They said that it was high time for all to use clean drinking water and avoid its wastage so that more and more people had access to it. “It is our collective duty to promote public awareness on saving water and protecting environment to nurture healthy society,” the participants said.

The students also visited houses and shops to raise awareness of water conservation by avoiding its wastage.

In Chitral, a walk was held on Friday to observe the World Water Day, which started from Chew Bridge and ended at Polo Ground. It was organised by Al-Khidmat Foundation.

The aim of the walk was to create awareness of conserving water by using it with care so that the future generation might not face its scarcity.

Talking to the participants, Maulana Jamshed Ahmed and Naveed Ahmed Baig said that Chitral had abundant water and glaciers which formed the origin of Kabul River.

They said that despite all this the people of Chitral had been facing acute shortage of water both for drinking and irrigation purposes due to the continued negligence of the governments. They said that the people in remote villages were forced to fetch water from distant places and hundreds of acres of arable land were lying barren for want of water.

They urged the government to take the issue of water conservation seriously to bring prosperity in the lives of the people.

Published in Dawn, March 23rd, 2019