MoCC allocates Rs9.5 billion for Clean Green Pakistan

0
70

ISLAMABAD, Aug 17 (APP):Ministry of Climate Change has allocated around Rs9.5 billion for projects under “Clean Green Pakistan” movement.

The ministry had earmarked maximum budget for the comprehensive plan (PC-1) for 10 Billion Tree Tsunami Programme, prepared in consultation with four provinces, Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and Gilgit Baltistan (GB) to the amount of Rs7.5 billion where an amount of Rs2 billion had been allocated for the clean component, a senior official in the ministry said.

It is shocking to know, he said the current situation of Pakistan in the water, sanitation and hygiene sectors was as appalling as the average situation in the world.

“Around 60 percent of the generated waste remains un-collected, 93 percent waste water remains un-treated and 42 percent population does not have access to basic sanitation facilities. As an impact of this,110 children die every day due to poor sanitation, 3 million people are annually hospitalized due to waterborne diseases and overall the country loses in terms of the GDP because of sanitation and water related issues,” he added.

Prime Minister Imran Khan keeping in view the above aggravated situation had announced the flagship Clean Green Pakistan Movement (CGPM) in October 2018, with major focus on countrywide mobilisation of citizens of the country, federal and provincial governments and private sector organisations to contribute to the national cause, i.e. to promote healthy behaviours and to redefine government’s priorities.

The five core areas of CGPM are tree plantation, solid waste management, liquid waste management, total sanitation or toilets, safe drinking water, he added.
The ministry had also established partnerships to increase mass awareness, built consciousness and sensitivity among the masses for deteriorating environment and serious impacts of climate change in the region.
However, a dedicated CGPM coordination unit and a media cell had been set up in the ministry with the support of development partners, he added.

“Focal persons have been nominated by all the Federal Ministries and Divisions on CGPM to maximize the efforts through collective actions at Federal level,” he added.

“CGPM committees and units have been formed in all the provinces, AJK and GB, led by their respective planning departments.”

“Clean Green Pakistan Index for Cities Ranking has been developed on the directions of federal cabinet where in the first phase 19 selected districts of KP and Punjab provinces will be ranked on the standards of cleanliness and greenery,” he informed.

MoCC, he said, had developed a regular coordination with Ministry of Information and Broadcasting for print, electronic and social media support for the movement.

It had also set up a regular liaison with Capital Development Authority (CDA) and Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad (MCI) on the landscape and beautification of federal capital.
For the grassroots level education CGPM messages had been incorporated in Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) curriculum, he added.

In order to create public ownership of the mega environment preserving initiative regular consultative meetings with donors, civil society organizations and climate change sector partners were being held to bring all stakeholders on board and review the progress, he said.

In order to engage the private sector to successfully accomplish the mass afforestation and cleanliness project a Public Private Partnership model had been adopted by the ministry. Several corporate partners have committed to merger their corporate social responsibility (CSR) resources towards CGPM, he added.

To a question, he said media being a vibrant source of public information had been consistently broadcasting special programmes and reports in news bulletins to highlight on ground situation through television channels and also on air integrated messages for public awareness in their regular programs.

He said realizing the importance of students potential in creating awareness and disseminating information at public level CGPM had been introduced to schools, colleges and universities. However, volunteers were also encouraged from different walks of life to participate and contribute in the movement.

In order to take the message to maximum number of people mass awareness campaigns had been initiated to take individual and collective actions, he added.

In this regard awareness seminars, public events, outdoor and media campaigns had been kicked off to advocate behaviour change messages. “We are fully aware of social media juggernaut for promoting public awareness campaigns and have dedicated separate social media accounts for Clean as well as Green components on all platforms including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram,” he noted.

Replying to another query, he said, solid waste management had been a serious challenge in the federal capital where no scientifically designed landfill site exists. Therefore, the ministry had been coordinating with the civic authorities to develop the first landfill site of federal capital on the proposed sites of Sanjani and Chakbeli Khan.

Leave a reply