Warning: include() [function.include]: URL file-access is disabled in the server configuration in E:\inetpub\vhosts\magtheweekly.com\httpdocs\10\concern.php on line 78

Warning: include(http://www.magtheweekly.com/skymidpage.php) [function.include]: failed to open stream: no suitable wrapper could be found in E:\inetpub\vhosts\magtheweekly.com\httpdocs\10\concern.php on line 78

Warning: include() [function.include]: Failed opening 'http://www.magtheweekly.com/skymidpage.php' for inclusion (include_path='.;./includes;./pear') in E:\inetpub\vhosts\magtheweekly.com\httpdocs\10\concern.php on line 78
This year’s Environment Day was planned and celebrated under the theme “Water - two billion people are dying for it". The aim of the 2-day celebrations were to impart to the general public the importance of conserving water, which is the foundation of bio diversity. This year, the summit was held at the Vihara Maha Devi, Open-air Theatre in Colombo under the partnership of government, non-government and private sector institutions. The celebrations organised by the World Environment Day Celebration Network were coordinated by the National Environmental Farmer Network. The aim of the two-day celebrations were to impart to the general public the message on the importance of conserving water which is the foundation of bio-diversity.
A year and a half ago. The Long Walk was telecasted. They showed a little girl in Sudan who would go on a laborious journey in search of water. Almost every day, the little girl and her best friend would walk to a deep hole dug into a dry riverbed in Sudan to fetch water for their families. It was a seven-and-a-half-hour journey in brutal heat, the return trip made even more arduous by the weight of the 5-gallon water container, which the girl carried on her head - a load of about 45 pounds of water of questionable quality. But her story is by no means unique. One billion people around the world don't have access to clean, safe water. The same is the case with the remote areas of Pakistan.
Developed countries have essentially eradicated diseases such as cholera, typhoid and malaria, but in a developing nation like ours, these and other waterborne illnesses kill 5 million people each year - 6,000 children every day. Global warming is exacerbating this crisis as severe, prolonged droughts dry up water supplies in arid regions and heavy rains cause sewage overflows. In terms of the sheer number of people affected, the lack of access to safe water and basic sanitation is a massive problem. Yet it is a problem with proven solutions that the developed countries seem to have implemented immediately, realising the importance of the matter.
So, what are these solutions that may help us if we decide to help ourselves and shape a better picture of things in our homeland? First, let’s take a look at who came under fire on Environment Day…
Although it is the rich nations of the world that advocate environmental issues most vocally, they ironically happen to be the biggest abusers of the environment. This gives us much respite as we are not to be blamed right away. But the fact remains that we, although blessed with a good environment, are bent upon destroying it. On World Environment Day, the Swiss environment agency criticised a G-8 leaders meeting near Lake Geneva for failing to tackle environmental issues. “I would like to see the G-8 nations work in solidarity to address not only the final consequences of environmental damage, but also the original problems,” said Philippe Roch, head of the agency. Roch mentioned to the media that polluters should pay for the damage their industry causes to the environment, while production and consumption should become more compatible with the planet’s ecological capacity.

Drinking water contaminated with chemicals or bacteria can make people sick, especially children and the elderly. Water can be contaminated with bacteria when it comes into contact with untreated human waste. Nearly half the people on the planet don't have a system to safely dispose of human waste and keep it away from areas where people can come into contact with it. As a result, disease causing bacteria can enter the water supply and spread through a population. Children are particularly vulnerable to these waterborne diseases. Their small bodies take in a disproportionately large quantity of water and its contaminants, and their immune systems are not equipped to fight off invaders such as E. coli, giardia and the typhoid bacteria. More than 2 million children are killed by such diseases each year, and 90 percent of them are kids under 5, estimates the UN.
Chemicals from industrial waste, pesticides that wash off from farms, or naturally occurring arsenic also contaminate drinking water.
Global warming and population pressures are drying up water supplies and instigating conflict over scarce resources. Expanding access to clean water and sanitation will have ripple effects throughout local economies and societies. This is not just the case with Pakistan - this is a global phenomenon.
Simple sanitation improvements, like digging pit latrines and treating drinking water with chlorine, filters and other simple, existing technologies can save millions of lives. The challenge is to put the right strategies to use in the right places, as needs vary from country to country. The long-term goal should be to provide safe sources of treated drinking water and improved sanitation for all and not just filling up bottles of mineral and filtered water to sell to the poor. In the meantime, simple short-term strategies can save millions of lives. The list of successful safe drinking water projects is growing, using simple household approaches, such as:
• Household chlorination or other chemical treatment
• Solar disinfection - leaving transparent bottles of water in the sun to kill microbes
• Hygiene education and promoting hand-washing
• Boiling water using excess heat from cooking
• Filtering water using sand, cloth, ceramics or other existing materials.
Safe water is a critical environmental and public health issue, as well as a means to lift people out of poverty and ensure human security. Yet the number of people without safe water is increasing. Water supply and sanitation programs can't be developed in isolation from other development issues. Integrating safe water programs into larger development strategies often involves complex, many-sided reforms, which requires high-level coordination and firm political will to get the job done. This is where sincerity of purpose comes in. The government and many NGOs seemingly working to achieve these goals have not yet reached the level where they can successfully claim they have educated the people in remote areas nor can they claim that this matter has been addressed in a manner which has created due awareness in the urban masses. The urban masses should remember that it is because of the people in the rural areas that their urban lifestyles thrive. Instead of closing our eyes to the looming threat, it is time we woke up and took notice of what is going on around us.