ENVIRONMENT, SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND HEALTH MONTHLY - JAN

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ISLAMABAD 000409 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: SENV SOCI ECON ETRD EFIN PGOV PREL PK SUBJECT: ENVIRONMENT, SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND HEALTH MONTHLY - JAN 2010 ISLAMABAD 00000409 001.2 OF 002 ¶1. (U) Summary: Environment, Science, Technology and Health Monthly Update for January 2010, prepared by the U.S. Embassy Islamabad, Pakistan. Topics covered: -- Nationwide Drought Deepens -- Islamabad to Harvest Rain Water -- Promoting Business, Community and Ecology with Pine Nuts -- Worrying Hospital Waste Disposal Practices - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Nationwide Drought Deepens - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶2. (U) Pakistan experienced a 37 percent rain shortfall in December, a deficit the Pakistan Meteorological Department expects will be compounded by below average rainfalls in both January and February. "The current El Nino conditions, which started developing in June last year and suppressed monsoon rains in Pakistan, are still continuing," said the Director General of Pakistan Meteorological Department, Qamar-uz-Zaman Chaudhry. "These conditions are expected to last until spring of 2010." ¶3. (U) Dr. Chaudhry went on to say that Pakistan is entering a stage of emerging agricultural drought and that crops are being threatened by the severe lack of water. Water storage levels at Mangla and Tarbela dams have dropped to levels not seen since the drought of ¶2002. With the exception of Balochistan, which has received 78 percent more rain than usual this year, every province in Pakistan received below-average rainfall this month. ¶4. (U) Studies of Pakistan's four major rivers have led the Ministry of Water and Power's Indus River System Authority (IRSA) to estimate an overall water shortage of 33 to 34 percent, while the Meteorological Department estimates Pakistan will suffer through a slightly more dramatic 40 percent shortage this year. ¶5. (U) Concerns about the lack of rainfall and the possible effects upon crops have reached the highest levels of the government. President Ali Asif Zardari offered Namaz-i-Istasqa, a prayer for rain, on January 22 and appealed to the Pakistani people to offer the same prayer in hopes of ending the dry spell that has affected the entire country. Rain fell in Islamabad for the first time in three months on 28 January. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Islamabad to Harvest Rain Water - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶6. (U) In the face of persistent drought conditions, Islamabad city managers have put forth a plan for harvesting rain run-off in several areas of the city. Capital Development Authority (CDA) Chairman Imtiaz Inayat Elahi reported that his agency will look to capture run-off from rooftops and local catchments, as well as capture seasonal floodwaters from local streams and conserve water through watershed management. Environmentalists estimate that in 1951 the water available per capita in Islamabad was 5,300 cubic meters; at the current level of 1,105 cubic meters per capita, the level is approaching the "dangerously low water availability" level of 1,000 cubic meters. Limited availability of water has historically restricted Islamabad's potential for growth. ¶7. (U) The CDA and the United Nations Development Program are already working on a rainwater run-off pilot project at Islamabad's landmark Faisal Mosque. This flagship project should begin contributing to the Islamabad water system in February, after the construction of a filter network and a monitoring system. Several other public sites, such as the Zero Point Interchange, have been identified as possible run-off collection points, as have residences that are built on plots larger than 400 square yards. The GOP is hoping to capture approximately 80% of rainwater through this project. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Promoting Business, Community and Ecology with Pine Nuts - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶8. (U) Pakistani non-profit Agribusiness Support Fund (ASF) and the World Wide Fund for Nature Pakistan (WWF-P) have taken on a project to preserve pine forests in the Zhob District of Balochistan. Pine ISLAMABAD 00000409 002.2 OF 002 trees in the area are routinely cut and sold as timber by local communities in need of income, so this small, $81,000 project will focus on the harvesting and selling of pine nuts as an alternate livelihood source in the region that will also protect the pine forest from further destruction. ¶9. (U) WWF-P will train members of the local community in post-harvest techniques and mechanical processing and packing of pine nuts, and will also set up infrastructure for better market access. The project aims to build the entrepreneurial abilities of the farming communities of the region, while also easing the local population into a ban on further tree cutting that should take effect by the end of 2010. ¶10. (U) The Takht-e-Suleiman and Shin Ghar areas of the Suleiman Range, which lie at the borders of NWFP and Balochistan provinces, have approximately 26,000 acres of pine forest that produce about 100 tons of pine nuts every year. Although some 5,000 inhabitants of these areas depend on the forest for their livelihoods, the pine nut has been an undervalued commodity, sold to local buyers at just $5 per kilo compared to the $8.50 per kilo they fetch in urban areas. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Worrying Hospital Waste Disposal Practices - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶11. (U) Hospital waste disposal practices in Sindh province came under scrutiny in January after the provincial and Karachi city governments separately initiated action to discipline medical institutions ignoring safe waste management practices. The provincial government issued notices to a number of public and private hospitals, clinics, maternity homes and laboratories, directing them to ensure proper management of waste in their jurisdictions and to put in place an efficient system for the final disposal of waste. ¶12. (U) Currently, only half a dozen of the 600 government and private hospitals have their own incineration plants, or "bhattis", to burn and dispose of the waste. The city government has two bhattis, each able to incinerate 1,000 kilograms of waste an hour. However, they are running at only 20 percent of capacity, because the government only has contracts, to collect and dispose of waste, with 140 of the local hospitals. ¶13. (U) Shahid Farhad, Director for Hazardous Substances and Waste Management for the Sindh EPA, told Embassy staff that only 20 percent of hospitals pay contractors to remove waste and use incinerators. The remaining 80 percent of hospitals do not have proper procedures or processes to handle the waste and will either dump their waste in municipal garbage, bury it, pour it down the drain, or reuse it for financial benefits. ¶14. (U) "Under the Pakistan Environmental Protection Act of 1997, hospital waste falls in the category of hazardous waste and institutions improperly handling it can be prosecuted," Farhad said, going on to report that he has instructed hospitals to submit a Waste Management Plan to the EPA within three months. PATTERSON