Meet
Environmental Targets, don’t target the Environment
By Sidra Bibi, student of BS
Environmental Science, SBK University, Quetta
Environment, in which we live,
is our home. So, what does a home need? Undeniably, a home needs
unusual care, attention, compensation, interests and some
considerations which are being provided to our homes by us but, why
this care, attention and interest is not being given to our
environment? The only reason is that because we don’t actually consider
environment as our home but in fact we are deadly going to destroy it
by our activities or so called “development”.
There is an immense need to solve and manage the issues of environment
which acquire a proper system of managing such as environmental
management system. These issues are closely related to our each and
every aspects of life i.e. socially, economically and ethically etc.
The management system requires some strapping keys such as management
responsibilities, positive and environmental friendly activities,
physical processes and control mechanism. But, most notably the system
of managing the environment surely needs the individual
responsibilities and individual awareness.
In Pakistan, no effective management system is seemed working to solve
the problems. A most common and frequent example of bad environmental
management system in country is that once it rains, the streets offer
the scene of rivers or lakes even in the large and well established
cities! That further leads to its terrible and dreadful impacts either
in the form of any epidemic disease or any huge loss of economy. One
uncontrolled and challenging consequence of poorly managed system is in
front of us in the form of Dengue virus that have resulted more than
350 deaths of people in Punjab.
Flood began in late July 2010, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh, Punjab and
Balochistan regions of Pakistan and affected the Indus River basin. It
resulted in enormous and massive destruction of food and important
infrastructure. It was driven by unprecedented monsoon rain. It
affected 20 million people. Flood had caused the deaths of at least
1,540 people, while 2,088 people had received injuries, 557,226 houses
had been destroyed, and over 6 million people had been displaced. In
short the flood has left extreme and farthest aftermaths behind it. But
in 2011, again facing the same situation of flood proves that there is
an exceedingly deprived management system in country that needs to be
improved and effective.
Many seminars and workshops are held every year to seek the solutions
for problems related to environment such as on climate, health,
pollution etc but tormenting point is this that next year, these
seminars are held with same discussion and same problems. No betterment
is seemed in that issue on which seminars and workshops are arranged.
The problems remain same but the money spent on organizing these
seminars increases year by year.
It
becomes serious responsibility of government (city or local
government, provincial government and federal government) to solve the
issue of mismanagement of environmental system. Government must be
efficient in making environmental friendly policies and also in
regulating and implementing these policies. It also becomes a duty of
each and every sector that their services do not harm the environment
and hence meet he environmental targets.
As it is well said by Wendell berry,
But the only possible guarantee of the future is responsible behavior
in the present.
|
Pen
has the power to prevail truth
....
By Shah Alam <shahalamamu@gmail.com> (Former
Correspondent, Hindustan Times), Currently a Research Scholar, Centre
for Women’s Studies, AMU
Charaaghon
ko ye chaahiye, bachaayen apni zindagi.
Hawaayen to safar me hain, hawaayen kaise kam chalen.
Baghair kuchh kahe hue, Khulega kaise raaz e gham.
Zabaanen band hain agar, to haath ke qalam chalen.
These
lines of Haq Kanpuri have come true in the present days in India. Our
country is facing turmoil because of increasing number of communal
riots these days. The state as well as the central government has
failed to curb communal violence. The ruling party and the opposition
parties are trying to win the minds of the people by giving their fake
statements and speeches with an eye on grabbing the votes of the
general public by diverting their minds. No party has raised the voice
against communal violence. Hundreds of innocent people including
children were murdered in orchestrated communal riots this year.
Public should not stop in raising their voice for the genuine causes.
If they are unable to speak, they should start writing against the
wrong policies made by our beloved politicians. They should demand
their rights which they deserve. Every citizen has got right to save
his life and liberty. The violence is a natural phenomenon that may not
be stopped, but everybody will have to take care of himself. Nobody
should become dependent on others.
Every coin has got two phases. On the one phase, there are many people
who do not want any turmoil. They always want peaceful atmosphere. On
the contrary, some people always try to create chaos in the society,
sometimes through their speeches, and sometimes through playing with
the religious sentiments.
No case would be solved if we always remain silent. No conspiracy would
be exposed, if we remain silent. Perpetrators would continuously create
turmoil everywhere, if we remain silent. We’ll have to confront them to
curb the violence and to help maintain a peaceful atmosphere. Sometimes
people fear in giving their reactions towards any issue or any riot
because of prevailing circumstances. If we cannot share our views
orally, we can share these through our pen.
It is proved that the pen has played a vital role everywhere in
attaining the demands and in letting the people know about the truth.
Mahatma Gandhi, too, used to express his opinions, in words, to make
the public aware of their rights and duties. He always published his
messages in the newspapers. It was not easy to reach everywhere in the
country to teach lessons of independence when every Indian was
struggling to get independence. Mahatma Gandhi spread his messages
through his writings.
We can cite the recent examples of communal violence. If the
dignitaries would not have written on Bharatpur riots, nobody would
know the fact. As soon as people came to know the reality by reading
the write ups of the dignitaries, they started giving their reactions
towards these. The effect of the writing was realized when the home
minister of Rajasthan gave in, and submitted his resignation. There are
many more issues which were only exposed when people wrote on those
issues. Sometimes the issues reached the public much after the
happening because nobody wrote on such issues.
If we want to live a peaceful life, then it is our duty to write for
the genuine demands and against the dirty policies as well as actions
of the perpetuators. |
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