PML-N women MNAs call on Mushahidullah Khan

A three member delegation of PML-N’s women political leaders on Thursday called upon Federal Minister for Climate Change, Senator Mushahidullah Khan and discussed dismal state of paced environmental degradation, deforestation and wildlife hunting in their respective constituencies.
The delegation comprising PML-N Khalida Mansoor from Bahawalnagar, MNA Nighat Parveen from Jehlum and MNA Shahnaz Saleem Malik from Dera Ghazi Khan urged the climate change minister to look into the sorry state of these environmental issues and urged him to play his part to addresses these issues.
“The environmental degradation, illegal tree-cutting and hunting of wildlife has reached and alarming level. Besides, the rampant tree cutting has not only speeded up the environmental degradation but also increased vulnerabilities of their constituencies to myriad climate change-caused problems, particularly flooding, heat waves, dust storms, land and river erosion,” the PM-N political leaders, who are also members of the National Assembly Committee on Climate Change, told Mushahidullah Khan.
They also pointed out that the role of local government officials working in environment, forest and wildlife departments are mere silent and are doing nothing to overcome these environmental challenges, posing risk to the health of the local people.
PML-N’s MNA Khalida Mansoor said that deterioration of the environment through paced depletion of resources, particularly deforestation, insane ground water use for irrigation purposes, increased air pollution soil degradation because of excessive use of chemical fertilisers and lack of proper solid waste management in Bahawalpur district has led to the dismal situation of environment and various public health issues/diseases. The same situation of the environmental destruction in Jehlum and Dera Ghazi Khan was also shared with the minister by MNA Nighat Parveen and MNA Shahnaz Saleem Malik.
Mushahidullah Khan expressed his disappointment about the role of local environment, forest and wildlife departments working in the Bahawalpur, Jehlum and Dera Ghazi Khan for failing to play their role to address the environmental issues, soaring deforestation and unchecked hutting of wildlife.
He assured the women MNAs of his all-out support and promised to play his part to address these local environmental issues and bring to book those involved in the degradation of the environment, illegal tree-cutting and wildlife hunting and no official responsible to tackle these issues.
Mushahidullah Khan noted that environmental degradation, which has alarmingly reduced of the capacity of the country’s environment to meet local social and ecological objectives, and needs, has peaked and endangered the lives of the people and wildlife.
“Not only people are being deprived of their right to pollution-free environment and healthy lives but wildlife species are also vanishing gradually because of loss of the habitats due to rampant environmental degradation that costs billions of rupees to the national exchequer annually,” he highlighted.
Khan also urged all stakeholders in government and non-governmental sectors to join government’s hand to protect the environment further destruction and play part to rehabilitate the environment.
He said that the present government is aware of the pressing environmental and climate change issues has taken various policy measures to address them in collaboration with civil society organizations
. However, said “public awareness is key to achieve the goal of the sustainable and clean environment for us all. Everyone of us has to play its role to achieve the goal of sustainable and clean environment for the present and future generations, particularly through judicious use of natural resources,” Mushahidullah Khan said.

Source: APP