World Earth Day: Everybody needs to be like Captain Planet

Panellists at seminar urge people to play a bigger role in protecting the environment.

SUKKUR:

Ghulam Qadir Kaheri is not an environmental expert but he knows the effects every time he opens up a body for an autopsy. "It shocks me to see how the lungs have blackened and shrunk," he said at a seminar held at Ghulam Mohammad Mahar Medical College, Sukkur on Friday to mark Earth Day.

"Let's start from our homes and clean up the earth," said the medical college principal.

People can do a lot to bring about changes in their homes and cities, but unfortunately, Pakistanis have not done much for the environment in more than 60 years, said panellists at the seminar. "We're supposed to take good care of the planet not for ourselves, but for the generations to come."

The event was organised by the Environmental Protection Agency, Sukkur in collaboration with Engro Chemical Company and Oil and Gas Development Company Limited. EPA Assistant Director, Sukkur, Muneer Ahmed Abbasi, Dr Vijay Kumar, Environmental Inspector Kashif Hussain Mangi and others also spoke.

"I'm not an environmental expert but even then I can tell that the smoke-emitting vehicles, dust, pollution from the chimneys of rice mills and cotton ginning mills and cigarettes are destroying our mother earth," said Kaheri.

Everybody needs to treat this as a personal problem and should take little steps to protect the planet. We could plant a tree or adopt a plant, he suggested.

Dr Vijay Kumar said that Earth Day has been observed every year since 1970. The day highlights the need to protect earth and its natural resources.

Pollution levels have risen alarmingly in Pakistan, due to which diseases like shortness of breath, eye, nose and throat infections and even cancer have become common, he said.

The doctor urged people not to burn tyres at protests because it releases poisonous gases that are very harmful for the environment. We should use fuel-efficient vehicles and get them tuned regularly.

Helping to save the planet can be as easy as regulating your mobile phone use. Dr Kumar said children should not be allowed to use cell phones till they reach a particular age. "It's better if people attach a headset and avoid direct contact with the harmful rays that mobile phones emit."

While other countries are contributing massively towards global warming, they are also finding innovative ways to counter the environmental damage. For instance, France has started using its waste to generate power, informed Dr Kumar. Pakistan can at least switch over to wind turbines and solar panels and play its part.

EPA's Muneer Ahmed Abbasi reiterated the advice. Vehicles that run on petrol and diesel give out poisonous gases, including carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide and release particles of carbon and zinc, especially if the vehicles are old.

Opposing large scale use of pesticide, Abbasi said that it should be purchased and used in little quantity. It should not be stored in homes in order to avoid accidents. He said that approximately 48,000 tons of garbage is accumulated in our country daily, out of which 7,000 tons of garbage is collected in Karachi alone, while 200 tons accumulates in Sukkur. Recycling is imperative if we want to bring pollution under control, he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 23^rd, 2011.