HYDERABAD: The water and soil experts of Sindh Agriculture University Tandojam, have expressed concerns over the effects of temperature, climate change and non- seasonal rainfall.
They expressed these concerns in a seminar organized here at SAU on the occasion of World Earth Day on Friday.
Experts said drainage and discharge of polluted water into the Indus River, deforestation, colonization of green fields, and the addition of salinity to groundwater are considered dangerous for the earth and human health.
In order to protect the land, each person should plant two trees and an equitable distribution of water and reuse domestic water are needed, they recommended.
Addressing a seminar, SAU Vice Chancellor Prof. Dr. Fateh Marri said that the dangerous consequences of rising temperatures and climate change are beginning to emerge, and wheat and mango production has declined this year.
The Indus Delta is losing 2 billion a year due to freshwater shortages and neglect, he said, adding that everyone must work together to protect the planet.
US Pakistan Center for Advanced Studies in Water at Mehran University of Engineering and Technology, Prof Dr Rasool Bux Mahar, said that proper irrigation and suitable water use in the fields can save agricultural land from becoming saline
or dry, while water can be reused at homes.
He said that there was no habit of afforestation in people of the country, as a result of which we were facing environmental disturbances, and low rainfall.
Dean of the Faculty of Agricultural Engineering and a water expert Dr Altaf Ali Sial said that riverine forests, mangrove forests, Makhi and Khipro forests have been destroyed as we are using the resources ruthlessly.
He said that the discharge of toxic water from the Indus River and the release of toxic water from factories had led to a sharp rise in arsenic and toxins, which were making people sick and destroying the land, adding that federal, provincial governments, institutions and the general public should take responsibility for the protection of the land.
Dr. Abdul Ghafoor Siyal, Dr Muneer Mangrio, Dr Mashooq Talpur, and Amanullah Tanio also spoke on the occasion.
Scientific Poster competition was also held on the occasion, in which Munawar
Menghwar, Anis Memon, Inayatullah Katohar, Zahid Ali Channa, and Maryam Hina were awarded cash and certificates.
Later, an awareness rally was organized on the occasion of World Earth Day under the leadership of Vice Chancellor Dr Fateh Marri and Dr Altaf Siyal, a large number of teachers and students were present on the occasion.