KARACHI – Pakistan will face a big disaster within ten years if it continues ignoring the national interest and don’t build new dams.
Addressing a seminar on “Disaster Management in Pakistan” organised by Business Administration Society of Muhammad Ali Jinnah University, Karachi, former chief meteorologist Tauseef Alam said as a result of global weather changes and temperatures rise, snow in the mountains is melting fast due to which in the next 25 years, we will have to face severe water shortage.
Joint Executive Director, and in-charge Emergency, Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) Dr Seemin Jamali and Project Manager, PILER, Zeenia Shoukat also spoke on the occasion.
“As we have not built big dams like Mangla and Tarbela during the last 40 years, we are unable to store sufficient water to meet our water and power requirements.
Water shortage in future may adversely affect our agricultural sector which is the backbone of our economy,” he added.
Dr Seemin Jamali said trouble caused by terrorism and climate change had also changed our priorities and they were still not capable to handle disaster management in comparison to other countries.
She demanded establishing a command and control system of hospitals in the big cities like Karachi to tackle any emergency situation effectively.
She appealed to the people not to rush to the emergency centres of the hospitals after any incident as spectators make very difficult for doctors and paramedical staff to provide first-aid to injured persons.
Zeenia Shaukat said at the time of heavy rain and floods situation, government machinery made every effort to save the lands and crops of influential peoples instead of rescuing the poor people huts and cattle.
She said because of not giving proper attention to the miseries of common man by the governments, there exists need of a new social contract to focus on the genuine problems of majority peoples rather than the ruling elite, bureaucrats, businessmen, industrialists and big landlords.
