Nature killers

Metro and road projects have severely affected the normal plantation and green belts leading to an increased level of pollution and extreme weather

Killing people is murder but killing nature that results in killing people is not murder. That is why when we talk about the environment in this country it is scoffed at as a discourse suitable for developed countries. That is why the destruction of nature is hardly punishable, that is why governments pay zero attention to preserving and conserving the environment, that is why this uncontrolled degradation of nature’s balance has caused climatic havoc in Pakistan, that is why in Karachi thousands for the first time died of an unbearable heat wave and millions were made homeless due to flash floods but all this is swept under the rug by the explanation that natural calamities are all in the hands of God. That is where we go wrong as these are aided and abetted by the hands of man, bent upon destroying every safeguard provided by God to deal with these calamities. This fatalistic view that is used by the government and the people of this country to justify the continuous ruination of our natural environment is what needs to change if eroding natural bodies are to be prevented from producing reactions that cause grave damage to our very existence.

Pakistan has the highest deforestation rate in South Asia at 2.5 percent. Thus, the land covered in forest, which was supposed to be six percent, has shrunken to 2.5 percent. When forestland is changed to non-forestry use, the products and services provided by the forest such as timber, firewood, water, medicinal herbs, wildlife, carbon storage and aesthetic beauty are lost. However, aesthetics is the least of our concerns; more importantly, it is the life of humans and the life of the ecosystem that are affected. Trees are carbon sinkers and help in reducing pollution and preventing many diseases. Environment-related factors cause roughly one third of all child mortality in Pakistan, the highest in South Asia. Diseases like diarrhea and typhoid, caused by inadequate water supply, sanitation and hygiene are other significant types of environmental damage that make up about 30 percent of the cost of environmental damages. Also, when you convert agricultural land to urban land, you disturb food security.

The reasons behind this planned destruction of the environment are money, status and showmanship. Deforestation is a huge business as wood is being used to make phenomenal profits by the timber mafia, especially in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. This includes the involvement of two ministers who have used their positions to continue this destruction. The heartening news is that these ministers have been removed and cases are now being levelled against this conduct. Another money-spinner is the land mafia that looks at lucrative areas of agricultural land and buys it forcibly at throwaway prices and then declares these industrial zones to resell at a phenomenal value. Last year in Punjab, agricultural land in Sheikhupura district of about 12,000 kanals was declared fit for a garment city. Hundreds of dairy farmers who were earning their living were offered Rs 1.3 million in place of Rs five million (the market price), which when converted into industrial zone prices will climb to billions of rupees. Millions will be deprived of their honest living and earning due to the greed of the influential land mafia.

Even more deplorable is the royalty subservience of allowing the Saudi and Qatari princes to come hunting and killing endangered Houbara Bustards. This has gone on for years and only recently has the Supreme Court (SC) banned the special permits given to royalty for killing this rare species. A recent case in the SC stated that a prince hunted for 21 days — from January 11, 2014 to January 31– and killed 1,977 birds, while other members of his party hunted an additional 123 birds, bringing the total Bustard toll to 2,100, sources said. The plea taken by a JUI-F representative was that in return they get Rs two billion worth of projects to develop the area. Where this money goes is anybody’s guess as Balochistan has hardly seen any evidence of it.

Another very powerful reason is the desire of many politicians to make mega showmanship projects that violate all environmental guidelines. Metro and road projects have severely affected the normal plantation and green belts leading to an increased level of pollution and extreme weather. Lahore is a particular victim of Shahbaz Sharif’s obsession with brick and mortar, which has huge face value but has made Lahore one of the 10 most polluted cities in the world. After tearing apart the Ferozepur Road with the metro bus, a new signal-free corridor and Canal Road modification project is afoot. The road at three points beyond the Dharampura underpass is being widened by removing greenbelts on both sides of the canal. Civil society organisations and residents of the Lal Pul area say that the government was violating the order of the SC regarding the Canal Road modification project. River Ravi, which used to be a picnic spot, is now a sewerage pit where river life has become impossible as the toxins due to the dumping of untreated sewerage have turned it into a water deathbed.

The environment is the invisible life support that only the aware and educated understand. What is required is a long-term effort to educate children on the hazards of environmental degradation. While private schools are creating this awareness, public schools are totally devoid of this text. One initiative that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has taken to reforest the province is to make it part of the student grading system. Each child studying in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s public schools will be planting a tree and will get extra marks for it. In this way, 5.4 million children will be planting an equal number of trees in the province and will also learn the importance of preserving the ecological balance. Similar initiatives need to be adopted in other provinces as well.

The real issue is of prioritisation. The environment, like education, cannot be built as an eight-month project with concrete visible structures that can be projected on the media and also earn substantial under-the-table payoffs. Though a separate climate change ministry has been set up, it is just a ticket for ministers to go to exotic places and attend conferences. What is needed is to empower these ministries and authorities to stall any projects that fail to pass environmental standards or we will just accept this living sorrow of seeing one of the most naturally blessed and beautiful countries become a dump yard of pollutants and toxins.