By Asif Mehmood Awan
Government agencies like the non-governmental organization (WWF) WWF Pakistan will have to come forward on an emergency basis. Steps will have to be taken before the dust from the glacier on Khunjerab Top takes over the whole of Pakistan.
From the plains and deserts of Pakistan to the highest pass, Khunjerab Top, the effects of climate change are affecting everyone in beautiful Pakistan, from unusual rains, landslides, sudden heat and cold. In a situation where our federal government and provincial governments have to prepare for the coming times by making policies, the lack of which is being felt acutely, the work of non-governmental organizations is being done there. Among them is the branch of an international organization WWF established in Pakistan, whose work is from the coast to the peaks. WWF Pakistan’s ongoing projects in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit Baltistan. During the visit to the Abbottabad Press Club and Punjab journalists were informed about various problems, their solutions and the opinions of the local people. In these local villages, the conditions of the valleys of Bagrot, Gulchi Charah, Ganesh Sost of Hunza and the dominance of the Gircha were seen. On this occasion, WWF Director of the Northern Areas Region of Pakistan, Haider Raza, has said that steps are being taken under a comprehensive plan under Water Resource Accountability in Pakistan to protect climate change, natural environment, and rare wildlife from extinction so that the threats to the survival of human life related to it can be addressed. The purpose of taking journalists from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab to the Gilgit region was to observe the measures taken for climate challenges and the facilities provided to the local populations in a practical manner. He expressed these views while talking to the Abbottabad Union of Journalists Press Club and the concluding day of the study tour of journalists from Punjab. WWF Communication Manager Nisar Ahmed, Research Officer Maria Dr. Humahiyat, Masood uz Zaman Coordinator Sociologist, Syed Anas ur Rehman Coordinator Conservation, Social Mobilizer, Mehreen Nadeem Coordinator, and journalists who came on the study tour were also present. Director North Haider Raza said that in this region The country has 70 percent of its natural resources, including three major mountain ranges, 13,000 small and large glaciers, 5,000 glacial lakes and 124 ordinary lakes. In addition, there are 130 species of birds, while 500 species of birds migrate from other countries until April. He said that tourists can see endangered species by preserving them. Haider Raza said that trees were planted to balance the temperature in the region. Artificial intelligence is being used to monitor all these activities. President Press Club Sardar Naveed Alam, President Abbottabad Union of Journalists Atif Qayyum, Senior Journalist of Rahim Yar Khan Imran Khushab, President of Press Club appreciated the steps taken to protect water reservoirs, promote agriculture, and protect the natural environment in the districts of Gilgit under the Water Resource Accountability Project of WWF Pakistan. He emphasized that the role of the media is important in dealing with climate challenges and creating awareness. Study tours in such areas will have far-reaching results. Journalists also described the visit as very useful and vowed to play a role in professional activities.
WWF Pakistan’s Coordinator Conservation Khurram Shahzad and Chairman of the local community representative organization Dobani Development Organization, Shahadat Noor, gave a briefing on the completion of 18 different development projects for the protection of the natural environment under the Water Resource Accountability project of WWF Pakistan, an international organization working to improve the quality of life of more than 300 Zahid families in two remote villages of Gulchi and Chara in Bagrot district of Gilgit-Baltistan. In the model villages of Gulchi and Chara in Bagrot, journalists were briefed about the projects completed to protect the natural environment, including pipelines, tunnels for protection in snowy weather for vegetable cultivation, solar systems for hot water, installation of hydro pumps for water transfer, clean drinking water lines, and other projects to prevent deforestation that causes climate change at the local level. Under the Water Resources Accountability Project of WWF Pakistan, a 900-foot water channel project and an 800-foot protective wall project to protect the land from erosion and make 3,000 kanals of land belonging to 150 families in 3 villages in Sost area of Upper Hunza, Gilgit, has been completed with a fund worth Rs 15 million to make 3,000 kanals of land of 150 families in 3 villages cultivable, protect it from floods and irrigate the land at the local level. Study visit The delegation of journalists from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Abbottabad and Punjab, who came to the event, were told by WWF Co-mobilizer Safdar Hussain and local community member Mohabbat Karim, Muhammad Raza – Imam Panah that there are 60 different plots of 3,000 kanals in Ghalbashi, in which about 150 families from the villages of Garcha and Jamalabad, Sartez depend on cultivation. Every year, the floods in the Hunza River damage the crops of fruits, wheat and vegetables. Under the WWF project, a 900-foot dam (water channel) was built to ensure 24-hour water supply to the fields and an 800-foot protective wall was also built to prevent the flow of the river. Due to which 3,000 kanals of land was made cultivable. Now wheat, peas, potatoes, barley and fruits of various varieties like apricots, cherries, peaches and apples are cultivated here. The local villagers said that with the completion of this project, they were able to meet the needs of the population and deliver vegetables and fruits to the markets this year. They described WWF Pakistan’s Water Resource Accountability Project as useful, which has helped reduce the effects of climate change, protect forests, glaciers and water, and has set up construction and development projects in ten districts of Gilgit with awareness campaigns, which have provided employment and food sources at the local level. School principal Niloofar Shaheen and children expressed happiness over the provision of clean water in the Union Council of Hunza, Ganesh, and the locals said that the clean water grown in their gardens due to this project has saved the children from major diseases.
Throughout this tour, people everywhere were demanding that if glaciers were to be saved in the coming times, they would have to work here by planting trees and providing employment to the local people.
