Efficient irrigation: Sprinklers to make Karakoram university greener
Up to 30% of water will be conserved through the use of pop-up sprinklers.
GILGIT:
A new but highly efficient irrigation system was inaugurated at Karakoram International University [KIU] in Gilgit city on Thursday. The United Nations Development Programme introduced the technology in view of depleting water reservoirs in the mountainous region.
“The technology called Pop-up Sprinklers has been introduced in the university which will help save up to 30 percent of water,” said Haider Raza, who heads the UNDP funded project “Mass Awareness for Water Conservation and Development” [MAWCD] in Gilgit-Baltistan.
As many as 95 pop-up sprinklers were setup in the KIU where water crisis has been one of the worst issues facing the management over the years.
The KIU management time and again requested the government to settle the issue, even assured them that it will bear the additional cost. However, it failed to get any response from them.
“These 95 sprinklers will irrigate two acres of land of the campus,” Raza said, adding that UNDP and government of Pakistan had provided funds for irrigation project that is a first-of-its-kind step in the G-B.
On Thursday, Dr Najma Najam, the vice chancellor KIU, inaugurated the system as officials of forests department and researchers visited the site to see them functioning. Raza briefed them about the project.
Briefing them about the project, Raza said it was completed in a period of two months, adding that the total cost incurred was Rs0.67 million.
He said they chose KIU for the project because the university had been facing acute shortage of water. “Another reason is that KIU is the hub of education and it could effectively disseminate the message of water conservation among the masses.”
Dr Najam quipped that human beings would have to look for another planet in the coming years if they do not realise the threat of environmental degradation now.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 8th, 2011.
A new but highly efficient irrigation system was inaugurated at Karakoram International University [KIU] in Gilgit city on Thursday. The United Nations Development Programme introduced the technology in view of depleting water reservoirs in the mountainous region.
“The technology called Pop-up Sprinklers has been introduced in the university which will help save up to 30 percent of water,” said Haider Raza, who heads the UNDP funded project “Mass Awareness for Water Conservation and Development” [MAWCD] in Gilgit-Baltistan.
As many as 95 pop-up sprinklers were setup in the KIU where water crisis has been one of the worst issues facing the management over the years.
The KIU management time and again requested the government to settle the issue, even assured them that it will bear the additional cost. However, it failed to get any response from them.
“These 95 sprinklers will irrigate two acres of land of the campus,” Raza said, adding that UNDP and government of Pakistan had provided funds for irrigation project that is a first-of-its-kind step in the G-B.
On Thursday, Dr Najma Najam, the vice chancellor KIU, inaugurated the system as officials of forests department and researchers visited the site to see them functioning. Raza briefed them about the project.
Briefing them about the project, Raza said it was completed in a period of two months, adding that the total cost incurred was Rs0.67 million.
He said they chose KIU for the project because the university had been facing acute shortage of water. “Another reason is that KIU is the hub of education and it could effectively disseminate the message of water conservation among the masses.”
Dr Najam quipped that human beings would have to look for another planet in the coming years if they do not realise the threat of environmental degradation now.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 8th, 2011.