Regional treaty urged to protect glaciers

Islamabad

The foreign affairs department has been advised to work out a comprehensive water treaty with regional countries to protect mega glacier resources and safeguard the precious commodity for future generations, The News has learnt.

It has also been recommended to enter into a pact also with Afghanistan for smooth water supply from the western channels particularly the Kabul River, according to the National Climate Change policy.

The policy, prepared by the Ministry of Environment along with other concerned departments, has laid down complete legislative framework required to be pursued and finalised to overcome differences within the provinces.

The water dams and enhancing the capacity of existing ones are also a part of the detailed plan as many identified sites are controversial with almost nil chances of inter-provincial consensus.

The policy has been drafted in view of the serious changes taking place in weather particularly at the snow-wrapped glaciers, the main water source of Pakistan for the Indus River.

Pakistan, it says, must “protect the HKH (HinduKush-Himalayas glaciers), which are considered the world’s water tower, by declaring them as ‘protected areas’ through agreements among countries sharing the Himalayan region”. On domestic front, the policy recommends state organisations to ‘legislate and enforce industrial and domestic waste management practices to protect environment, in particular water resources, from further degradation”.

Posted in: Islamabad