KARACHI, April 21: Like people around the world, Karachiites will observe the World Earth Day on Tuesday with calls for an immediate rethink on strategies against pollution and environmental degradation.

The day was originally conceived by US Senator Gaylord Nelson, who is also considered the “founder of the Earth Day”, in 1969.

In Karachi, a number of institutions have organised rallies, seminars and other programmes to highlight issues like preservation of natural resources, emerging challenges of increasing human population, depleting resources of clean water and air, as well as rectification of the damages already caused to the earth due to ruthless industrialisation and development.

The Sindh environment department has organized a walk at 9:30am from the Peoples’ Secretariat to the Mazar-i-Quaid. Provincial Minister for Information Shazia Marri will lead the walk.

The department has directed all the district governments in the province to organise walks, seminars and other events to mark the Earth Day aimed at creating awareness of the adverse effects of pollution on environment.

The community medicine department of the Aga Khan University will hold a Mela in collaboration with NGOs on the theme of “recycling and reuse of goods for a difference”. A panel discussion will also be held at the AKU auditorium in the afternoon.

KU programme

At a programme organised at the University of Karachi on Monday in connection with the Earth Day, Vice-Chancellor Prof Pirzada Qasim Raza Siddiqui, who was the chief guest, highlighted the problem of natural resources depleting with every passing day. He stressed the need for utilising natural resources wisely.

“We assume that we are the only species living on the planet but we must share this planet with other species,” he said, pointing out that human being had done enormous damage to the earth so much so that their very survival is now at risk.

He referred to the alarming reports that people around the world could experience acute shortage of food in the coming years and face starvation. “Pakistan is no exception although it is an agricultural country,” he said quoting the reports.

He said that food items had become so expensive that the poor had to spend more than 90 per cent of their total income on their food requirements. “The situation demands from us that we conserve whatever we have on this earth and recycle all the natural resources for ourselves and the next generations,” he said.