Flagship PACT Radio Programme Reaches its Centenary

06 Monday Aug 2012

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29 Jul 2012
by: Sayed Shafeq Masom
Originally Published on http://www.pactradio.com/en/news/flagship-pact-radio-programme-reaches-its-centenary.php

Along with The Pulay Poray radio drama – “storytelling in a contemporary context” – there is no programme that sums up the Traditional Solutions for Modern Problems approach of PACT Radio more than its environmental programme – Chaperyal (Habitat.)

 

This was clear from one of the first reports PACT Radio/The Saba Story made on the subject of protecting the environment. The report was about the harmful effects of plastic shopping bags on the environment. Community elders pinpointed the problem in the following words:

“My name is Miran Shah. We used to bring our shopping home in a bag of some sort. We used to make a bag on our own out of some cloth or other material.”

“My name is Gul Rahman. I am from Kalwaray. In the old days, when elders of a household used to go to the shops, they would have a shawl with them. They used to tie whatever they used to buy in a knot, in the corner of their shawl, and bring it home. When they reached home, they would untie the knot in their shawl. Inside, there would be separate paper-bags, containing various items of shopping.”

“I am Ghulam Shabbir, from Bazi Khel. In the old days, people brought their shopping home in bags made of cloth. Now they bring it home in plastic shopping bags.”

All the instances cited by these community elders were “traditional solutions for a modern problem,” the modern problem being plastic shopping bags, the traditional solution being using cloth – a reusable cloth bag or a knot in one’s shawl – as people used to do.

This suggestion of solutions that are in line with people’s own traditions has also been in evidence in PACT Radio/The Saba Story’s programmes on deforestation. For example, in a deforestation report from Kalam in Swat, the reporter discussed the issue of unrestricted cutting of trees in recent times while in the past, it was a tradition in that area that local people banned chopping of trees for a specific period. Anyone who cut a tree down during that time would be liable to a heavy “nagha” – a fine from the community or tribe.

But the traditional approach of PACT Radio to environmental care is even more deep-rooted than this. Indeed it is rooted in two Islamic concepts: avoidance of extravagance (israf) and avoidance of cruelty (zulm). The meaning of the Arabic word zulm is literally putting something in the wrong place. Putting pollution into the air, rivers and the sea is an example of putting something in the wrong place – zulm. Failing to conserve natural resources is an example of extravagance, what the Quran calls israf.

It is a cause of great satisfaction to PACT Radio/The Saba Story, then, that its Chaperyal (Habitat) programme has recently reached its centenary of programmes. The programme has set out to highlight major issues or threats to our environment in the cross-border region. The programme has covered a range of topics – global warming, forestation and deforestation, air pollution, climate change, conservation of energy resources, mining, water pollution, wastage and other topics from the length and breadth of the Pak-Afghan border regions.

And there is another very underlying Islamic concept that is the moving force behind PACT Radio/The Saba Story’s approach to environmental issues: it is the concept of “shukr” – being thankful to Allah for the Earth that has been given to us as a home.

This spirit of thanksgiving should motivate us to be diligent in caring for our environment – the forests, land, water and air that we inhabit. “Tidiness and cleanliness,” the Holy Prophet said, “are half of true faith.” Principles of tidiness and sanitation also constitute a large part of good care of the environment. These are the type of concepts that are at the core of cross-border tradition and which PACT Radio seeks to tap into by talking to ordinary people about environmental issues. Through this approach PACT Radio aims to engender a more careful and responsible approach to environmental care.

The fact that PACT Radio/The Saba Story is very serious about putting on an effective environmental programme is shown by the amount of training we have put into the subject. One training workshop was held in collaboration with WWF (World Wildlife Fund) in May 2010. Trainers in this workshop explained to PACT Radio/The Saba Story journalists how man had been provided with a good and natural environment, but as the human population increased and went on the road of so-called development, man started corrupting his environment, intentionally or unintentionally. Now the condition is that our forests are dying, wildlife is vanishing and the fertility of the earth is lessening. There is very little pure water to drink and very little clean air to breathe. New, unexpected natural calamities are encircling man.

This is in line with what has also been written in the holy Quran:

ظَهَرَ الْفَسَادُ فِي الْبَرِّ وَالْبَحْرِ بِمَا كَسَبَتْ أَيْدِي النَّاسِ لِيُذِيقَهُم بَعْضَ الَّذِي عَمِلُوا لَعَلَّهُمْ يَرْجِعُونَ

“Great corruption has been wrought in the land and the sea, because of the work of man’s own hand…”

(Al-Quran, 30:41)

The trainers highlighted particular issues in the border regions in which PACT Radio/The Saba Story broadcasts. For example:

•    Habitat fragmentation

•    Deforestation

•    Depletion of natural resources

•    Soil/land erosion

•    Environmental pollution

•    Climate change

Not only have listeners written in, appreciating the programme. They have also written in giving ideas, about issues they feel should be covered in the programme. For example, Mohammad Tahir wrote about a problem affecting the Siran river in Hazara region. He said that people there make use of explosives and electric charges for fishing which is very dangerous for fish and for people also. In one place, it so happened that a fisherman threw electric charges into the river. A few people were swimming in the river, three of whom were electrocuted. Who knows how many fish were also electrocuted in the process.

PACT Radio/The Saba Story is looking to strengthen its environmental programme. For this purpose, it is actively looking for sponsorship of its environmental programme, along with sponsorship of a module on environmental protection in its sister educational institution – the Islamic Vocational Academy. Students who follow the module would then go onto becoming reporters with PACT Radio/The Saba Story and particularly with its environmental programme – Chaperyal – the only programme of its kind in the Pak-Afghan border regions.

Parties who are interested in sponsoring this environmental programme may get in touch with the Head of PACT Radio at john.butt@pactradio.com

Drainage blues: As monsoon looms, Badin fears LBOD will break loose again

24 Tuesday Jul 2012

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Published: June 16, 2012

This year too, the district anticipates destruction. PHOTO: FILE

KARACHI: Since 1993, the people of Badin have been unhappy. This was the year when the Left Bank Outfall Drain (LBOD) was completed and their problems began. Then in 1999, a strong cyclone made the matters worse. Every year since then, the damage wrought in the district has been blamed on the ‘faulty design’ of one of the major drains in the country.

The LBOD was initially designed to channel the excessive irrigation water and industrial effluents from Benazirabad, Sanghar and Mirpurkhas districts into the Arabian Sea in Badin. According to experts, however, due to numerous faults in its design and operations, the drain has instead been causing heavy damages from time to time. The hardest-hit are the people and their crops, especially whenever the area is hit by cyclones or torrential rains.

On the edge

With torrential rains and floods wreaking havoc in the province, especially Badin, for the past two consecutive years, this year too, the people in Badin are on the edge. Agriculturists among other stakeholders in three talukas of the district – Tando Bago, Badin and Shaheed Fazil Rahu – are not satisfied by what has been done in the name of rehabilitation.

In the cyclone of 1999, over 40 kilometres of tidal link at the LBOD was split open from more than 50 places, causing massive destruction. “I don’t remember such widespread damage in Badin before the LBOD was built,” said Jahan Khan Chandio, whose village is located near Kadhan, which was hit badly. “Every year, we face a tougher situation. There have been no crops since the 2011 monsoon and I fear for more destruction in the coming season, if concrete measures are not taken.”

LBOD maintenance

However, the Sindh Irrigation and Drainage Authority’s (SIDA) area body, working on the repair and maintenance of the LBOD, proudly claims that serious efforts are being made.

Since the LBOD’s establishment, nothing was done for its maintenance, claims Sohail Akber Mirza, the chairman of SIDA’s Left Bank Canal Area Water Board and a former district naib nazim. “We are in the first phase and more works will be initiated in the second phase,” he said. Mirza added that Badin is not a direct beneficiary of the drain.

He blamed the destruction in the past years to unprecedented rains. “Last year, the district received about 760mm rain and the water flow in the LBOD went above 15,000 cusecs while its capacity is only 4,600 cusecs,” Mirza explained.

Nothing being done

Another former naib nazim, Aziz Diro, contradicted the claims of the LBOD rehabilitation, stressing that the present capacity of the drain must be enhanced. He also suggests making the Doro Puran Outfall Drain (DPOD) functional. “If the authorities concerned really intend to secure Badin, they should concentrate on the DPOD,” he added. The DPOD is a natural waterway which runs parallel to the LBOD. Diro’s village is situated between the DPOD and the LBOD and sharing his experience, he said that almost 70 per cent of the water flow in the entire district would be released if on-time necessary steps are taken. “The people were only able to recover their valuables in last year’s flood, but I fear they won’t be able to save themselves next time,” Diro warned.

About the ongoing work at the drain, senior agriculturist Nawaz Memon said that it would be not as devastating as it is now, if the water in the LBOD is drained into Shakoor Lake instead of the sea. “The drain is certain to overflow because of its low capacity and the higher flow of water,” he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 16th, 2012.