By Anzal Amin
ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi on Friday stressed the need for joining hands with regional countries and the world to save the globe from droughts and ensure food security.
In his message on the International Day to Combat Desertification and Drought, the president mentioned that many countries around the world, including Pakistan, were experiencing periodic low and unpredictable rainfall.
The president said climate change, degradation of land, deforestation, and overexploitation of farmlands and grasslands were contributing factors to crop failure, water stress, land degradation and low growth performance.
This year’s slogan ‘Rising up from drought together’, he said, will send a strong message to drought-prone countries to join hands and reiterate their commitment to encourage communities to act together to tackle the immediate impacts of drought and build long-term resilience. President Alvi said the drought impact can be mitigated by developing water sources – such as micro dams, ponds, and wells, water rationing, restoring pastures, and recovering the water holding capacity of soils.
He proposed that the solution lay in tree plantation, protecting riverbanks, shifting to drought-tolerant crops, and relocation of herds from vulnerable pastures.
“We need to adopt cogent drought policies at the federal and provincial levels, launch a well-thought-out and coordinated drought action plan, implement comprehensive drought-management strategies, improve water security through groundwater recharge, create more water reservoirs, ensure water availability, and enhance forest cover throughout the country,” he said.
The president expressed satisfaction that Pakistan was working in many areas to mitigate the impact of drought which include the implementation of a national-level programme to plant 3.29 billion plants over an area of One million hectares in desertification and drought-prone areas.
Also, the launch of the Protected Areas Initiative to preserve the natural flora and fauna and achieving the voluntary Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) Targets by 2030 are important areas, he added.
Separately, President Arif Alvi Friday called upon the federal and provincial governments to take all necessary measures to preserve the precious sweet water brought by mother nature by the monsoon weather system.
He said that monsoon helped augment growth of food and increased the production of cheap hydroelectricity ensuring economic growth. He stressed that all precautionary measures should be taken to prevent flood-like situations in the country to save lives and property.
The President said that the monsoon rain system would soon mark the beginning of the cultivation of rain-fed Kharif crops and will determine the yield of rice, wheat, sugarcane, oilseeds, pulses, fruits and vegetables, and the quality and quantity of dairy products.
The President said that the quantity of monsoon rain harnessed and preserved by the country will determine the quality and quantity of our agricultural production, will provide freshwater to fill aquifers and wells, refill the dams and replenish the underground water reservoirs. The President warned that “we must conserve water and if we failed to harness this precious resource brought free of cost by Almighty Allah to us, we will grow less food; agribusinesses will not produce enough to sell; governments will have to import expensive food; electricity will become more expensive, and will limit the development of large businesses”.
The President called upon the federal and provincial authorities to take necessary precautionary measures beforehand to prevent flood-like situation, mudslides, and possible water outbursts, especially in rural and hilly areas to save precious lives and properties.
He said Pakistan needed to work on both structural and non-structural measures for flood protection which might include raising the storage capacity of dams, supplementing capability of early flood forecasting and flood warning, restoration of existing wetlands and proper planning of urban development.
The President said, “We should also increase our preparedness and relief services by ensuring flawless coordination amongst different provincial and federal departments involved in water management and flood protection to save possible loss of lives, properties and livelihood. Besides our country men must recognize the preciousness of water and everyone must conserve this resource,” he said.
