Water everywhere, but not a drop to drink
Aqib Ullah (Jangbazar Chitral)
One of my friends from Islamabad who was a student of geology at that time visited Chitral in 2016.
After visiting different places in Chitral, I asked him: “How can you define our place as you have visited many places? He said: “Water, water everywhere, not a drop to drink.”
When asked what did it mean, he explained “Chitral is on the brink of climatic destruction. Due to high temperatures, glaciers are melting quickly and people of your area are bent on cutting trees without planting new ones. After a few years, there will be a shortage of potable water owing to floods and people from both sides of the river will be disconnected from each other.”
Nowadays, whenever I see what is happening in Chitral I remember my friend. He was right.
Scores of people in different areas of Chitral have lost their lives and the number of others becoming homeless due to heavy floods has crossed the triple digit. Drinkable water has become scarce. Drinking impure water has become a compulsion for disheveled people in different areas that will be lead to the spread of different sorts of contagious diseases.
It’s time to take the issue of climatic change seriously otherwise the balloon will keep on going up for us. The major cause of global warming and floods is deemed to be cutting trees mercilessly without planting new trees. Cutting trees to fulfill the basic needs of daily life when you live in a place devoid of basic facilities like Chitral is considered to some extent, reasonable but not planting new trees can’t be justified.
Besides providing clean air, water, and food, trees receive the rainwater and hold floodwaters and prevent soil erosion.
According to the UN Food and Agriculture Association, a mature evergreen tree can intercept more than 15,000 litres of water every year.
Stringent actions should be taken against the people cutting trees illegally. Being responsible citizens, it is our duty also that when we cut a tree ,we must plant new one so that we can satiate the need of nature also otherwise the nature is adept at taking revenge as we are seeing nowadays.
Chitral is on the brink of climatic destruction and if we not take this issue seriously now we will feel remorseful for good and perchance, have to migrate to other places.
Awareness sessions should be arranged to make people conversant with the importance of planting trees ,and they should be told about the ramifications of cutting trees. Besides a plethora of benefits of plants, they provide oxygen to us and believe me nothing has been invented yet that can be used for inhalation in place of oxygen to live a healthy life.