Senate panel fears locust attack may cause food crisis

Gets briefed on role of science ministry in countering coronavirus pandemic, locust infestation

ISLAMABAD:

A Senate panel on Wednesday expressed concern over locust attacks, which, it said, might cause a food crisis in the country if not tackled immediately.

“Pakistan is facing both coronavirus pandemic and the locust attack. There is a need to make hectic efforts to counter these threats,” said Senator Mushtaq Ahmed Khan, while chairing a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Science and Technology.

The meeting was called to discuss in detail the measures that the Ministry of Science and Technology and its departments have taken to combat coronavirus pandemic and locust attacks in the country.

Senator Nuzhat Sadiq, Senator Sabir Shah, Senator Gianchand, Senator Sarfaraz Bugti, Senator Hidayatullh, Senator Asad Ali Khan Junejo and senior officers from the ministry and its associated departments attended the moot.

According to a report submitted to the Supreme Court by Punjab government in June, the entire country is under the threat of an attack by desert locust but around 37% area of Pakistan is more vulnerable to the attack. This includes 60% area of Balochistan, 25% area of Sindh and 15% area of Punjab.

The government has already declared a national emergency in this regard as hopper bands of the Schistocerca gregaria – commonly known as the desert locust – have already devoured large quantities of crops in over 60 districts of all the provinces.

The ministry told the committee that various departments working under the ministry have been working diligently and have produced masks, sanitizers, temperature guns, chemicals, walk through gates and personal protective equipment’s (PPEs) locally and in line with WHO standards.

However, the ministry said, mass production of these products is not possible so far due to lack of funds.

The chairman and other committee members directed that the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and the Ministry of Finance be summoned in the next meeting so that details of distribution and funding may be discussed in detail.

The committee also took a stock of the research capacity and preparedness of the departments – working under the ministry – to battle with the pandemic.

The committee was told the Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (PCSIR) laboratories have been producing and supplying different products to various government organizations in Pakistan.

The PCSIR has so far produced 48,630 litres of hand sanitizer, 10,730 litres of disinfectant spray and 4 walk through gates. The organization is also collaborating with Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FPCCI) for mass production of these items.

Senator Mushtaq Ahmed was of the view that the Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC) must continue its work with missionary zeal and the rest of the departments must follow suit.

He said the PEC has taken excellent initiatives such as establishment of Pakistan Innovation and Testing Centre (PITC) and local manufacturing of ventilators and EM devices.

The committee was told that 57 designs of ventilators have been received by the PEC, 14 design prototypes have been shortlisted for evaluation and 5 devices have been approved for Industrial grade model. Two ventilators are under process for the Drug Regulatory Authority Pakistan (DRAP) approval.

Seven ventilators are on 2nd evaluation/design prototype stage.

The committee was informed that 2,000 coronavirus tests have been conducted by the National Institute of Virology; medicine formulation are being researched with numerous medical institutes across Pakistan and study of the SARS-COV-2 Genome have been taken up.

A national IT framework for the post pandemic scenario for track and trace has also been developed.

The chairman also sought details as to whether Pakistan is a member of the 75 countries alliance against Covid-19. He said these details along with any efforts to produce a vaccine must be submitted to the committee in the next meeting.