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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ISLAMABAD 000409 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SENV SOCI ECON ETRD EFIN PGOV PREL PK
SUBJECT: ENVIRONMENT, SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND HEALTH MONTHLY - JAN 
2010 
 
ISLAMABAD 00000409  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1. (U) Summary: Environment, Science, Technology and Health Monthly 
Update for January 2010, prepared by the U.S. Embassy Islamabad, 
Pakistan. 
 
Topics covered: 
 
-- Nationwide Drought Deepens 
-- Islamabad to Harvest Rain Water 
-- Promoting Business, Community and Ecology with Pine Nuts 
-- Worrying Hospital Waste Disposal Practices 
 
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Nationwide Drought Deepens 
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¶2. (U) Pakistan experienced a 37 percent rain shortfall in December, 
a deficit the Pakistan Meteorological Department expects will be 
compounded by below average rainfalls in both January and February. 
"The current El Nino conditions, which started developing in June 
last year and suppressed monsoon rains in Pakistan, are still 
continuing," said the Director General of Pakistan Meteorological 
Department, Qamar-uz-Zaman Chaudhry. "These conditions are expected 
to last until spring of 2010." 
 
¶3. (U) Dr. Chaudhry went on to say that Pakistan is entering a stage 
of emerging agricultural drought and that crops are being threatened 
by the severe lack of water.  Water storage levels at Mangla and 
Tarbela dams have dropped to levels not seen since the drought of 
¶2002.  With the exception of Balochistan, which has received 78 
percent more rain than usual this year, every province in Pakistan 
received below-average rainfall this month. 
 
¶4. (U) Studies of Pakistan's four major rivers have led the Ministry 
of Water and Power's Indus River System Authority (IRSA) to estimate 
an overall water shortage of 33 to 34 percent, while the 
Meteorological Department estimates Pakistan will suffer through a 
slightly more dramatic 40 percent shortage this year. 
 
¶5. (U) Concerns about the lack of rainfall and the possible effects 
upon crops have reached the highest levels of the government. 
President Ali Asif Zardari offered Namaz-i-Istasqa, a prayer for 
rain, on January 22 and appealed to the Pakistani people to offer 
the same prayer in hopes of ending the dry spell that has affected 
the entire country.  Rain fell in Islamabad for the first time in 
three months on 28 January. 
 
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Islamabad to Harvest Rain Water 
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¶6. (U) In the face of persistent drought conditions, Islamabad city 
managers have put forth a plan for harvesting rain run-off in 
several areas of the city.  Capital Development Authority (CDA) 
Chairman Imtiaz Inayat Elahi reported that his agency will look to 
capture run-off from rooftops and local catchments, as well as 
capture seasonal floodwaters from local streams and conserve water 
through watershed management.  Environmentalists estimate that in 
1951 the water available per capita in Islamabad was 5,300 cubic 
meters; at the current level of 1,105 cubic meters per capita, the 
level is approaching the "dangerously low water availability" level 
of 1,000 cubic meters.  Limited availability of water has 
historically restricted Islamabad's potential for growth. 
 
¶7. (U) The CDA and the United Nations Development Program are 
already working on a rainwater run-off pilot project at Islamabad's 
landmark Faisal Mosque.  This flagship project should begin 
contributing to the Islamabad water system in February, after the 
construction of a filter network and a monitoring system.  Several 
other public sites, such as the Zero Point Interchange, have been 
identified as possible run-off collection points, as have residences 
that are built on plots larger than 400 square yards. The GOP is 
hoping to capture approximately 80% of rainwater through this 
project. 
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Promoting Business, Community and Ecology with Pine Nuts 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶8. (U) Pakistani non-profit Agribusiness Support Fund (ASF) and the 
World Wide Fund for Nature Pakistan (WWF-P) have taken on a project 
to preserve pine forests in the Zhob District of Balochistan.  Pine 
 
ISLAMABAD 00000409  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
trees in the area are routinely cut and sold as timber by local 
communities in need of income, so this small, $81,000 project will 
focus on the harvesting and selling of pine nuts as an alternate 
livelihood source in the region that will also protect the pine 
forest from further destruction. 
 
¶9. (U) WWF-P will train members of the local community in 
post-harvest techniques and mechanical processing and packing of 
pine nuts, and will also set up infrastructure for better market 
access.  The project aims to build the entrepreneurial abilities of 
the farming communities of the region, while also easing the local 
population into a ban on further tree cutting that should take 
effect by the end of 2010. 
 
¶10. (U) The Takht-e-Suleiman and Shin Ghar areas of the Suleiman 
Range, which lie at the borders of NWFP and Balochistan provinces, 
have approximately 26,000 acres of pine forest that produce about 
100 tons of pine nuts every year.  Although some 5,000 inhabitants 
of these areas depend on the forest for their livelihoods, the pine 
nut has been an undervalued commodity, sold to local buyers at just 
$5 per kilo compared to the $8.50 per kilo they fetch in urban 
areas. 
 
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Worrying Hospital Waste Disposal Practices 
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¶11. (U) Hospital waste disposal practices in Sindh province came 
under scrutiny in January after the provincial and Karachi city 
governments separately initiated action to discipline medical 
institutions ignoring safe waste management practices.  The 
provincial government issued notices to a number of public and 
private hospitals, clinics, maternity homes and laboratories, 
directing them to ensure proper management of waste in their 
jurisdictions and to put in place an efficient system for the final 
disposal of waste. 
¶12. (U) Currently, only half a dozen of the 600 government and 
private hospitals have their own incineration plants, or "bhattis", 
to burn and dispose of the waste.  The city government has two 
bhattis, each able to incinerate 1,000 kilograms of waste an hour. 
However, they are running at only 20 percent of capacity, because 
the government only has contracts, to collect and dispose of waste, 
with 140 of the local hospitals. 
 
¶13. (U) Shahid Farhad, Director for Hazardous Substances and Waste 
Management for the Sindh EPA, told Embassy staff that only 20 
percent of hospitals pay contractors to remove waste and use 
incinerators.  The remaining 80 percent of hospitals do not have 
proper procedures or processes to handle the waste and will either 
dump their waste in municipal garbage, bury it, pour it down the 
drain, or reuse it for financial benefits. 
 
¶14. (U) "Under the Pakistan Environmental Protection Act of 1997, 
hospital waste falls in the category of hazardous waste and 
institutions improperly handling it can be prosecuted," Farhad said, 
going on to report that he has instructed hospitals to submit a 
Waste Management Plan to the EPA within three months. 
 
PATTERSON