Sukkur, Pakistan: Freshwater dolphins are flourishing in a stretch of Pakistan’s main river after a helping hand from fishermen mobilized to defend a rare species driven to near-extinction.
Identifiable by their saw-like beaks, Indus River dolphins once swam from the Himalayas to the Arabian sea, but now mostly cluster in a 180-kilometer (110-mile) length of the waterway in southern Sindh province.
A glimpse of a dolphin cutting through muddy water to gasp for air is a regular sight along the mighty river, but most villagers nearby were unaware their neighbors were on the brink of extinction.
“We had to explain that it was a unique species only found in the Indus and nowhere else,” Abdul Jabbar, who gave up fishing for a job on the dolphin rescue team, told AFP on the banks of Dadu Canal, which he patrols by motorbike.
Decades of uncontrolled fishing and habitat loss caused by pollution and man-made dams saw the dolphin population plummet to around 1,200 at the turn of the century.
They are classed as an endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, which says their numbers have fallen by more than 50 percent since the 1940s.
In a bid to turn around the fortunes of the mammals, Pakistani wildlife officials began a painstaking door-to-door awareness campaign with the local fishing community on the riverbanks and arterial canals.
They offered advice on dolphin-friendly nets and warned against harmful and illegal poison-fishing — the practice of using chemicals to kill small fish used for poultry feed.
The World Wide Fund for Nature also offered up one million rupees ($6,300) worth of loans, encouraging fishermen to set up alternative businesses.
With the help of the provincial wildlife department, they established a dolphin monitoring network of 100 volunteers and a handful of paid staff, and a 24-hour phone helpline for villagers to call if they see a dolphin in distress.
Jabbar’s commitment is now boundless.
He recently missed the birth of his child when a dolphin became trapped in one of the river’s canals.
“The doctors were preparing for the caesarean and I needed to be with my wife. But when the call came, I rushed that night to rescue the dolphin,” he told AFP.
The latest survey, from 2017, showed numbers had rebounded to about 1,800 and wildlife officials expect the population has increased further since.
Local legend has it that the first Indus River dolphin was once a woman, transformed by a curse from a holy man angry that she forgot to feed him one day.
Previous generations believed the dolphins — known locally as bullen — were cursed.
They have evolved to be functionally blind, allowing for a sharpened sense of sonar as they cut through the muddy waters of the river hunting for prey.
Harmful fishing practices are not the only hazards facing dolphins.
Every January, when water levels are at their lowest, the floodgates to canals are shut for cleaning, creating pools and lagoons that become death traps for stranded marine life.
Wildlife Department official Adnan Hamid Khan told AFP that the recent steady rise in dolphins had been a “success story.”
“But with a larger population comes food shortages, decreased range of movement — their breeding ground and territory has shrunk.”
Indus River dolphins first came under threat during British colonial rule when dams were built to control the waterway’s flow, and later from the discharge of hazardous chemicals when factories sprung up along its banks.
Untreated sewage from rapidly expanding cities and towns is also dumped into the water, Khan said.
But with fishermen on their side, there is some hope for the species.
“Now we save the dolphins with as much dedication as we would a human being,” said Ghulam Akbar, another volunteer monitor who also turned to farm fishing in an attempt to limit his impact on the river.
“They breathe like we humans do. Every compassionate man should save them.”
Foe to friend: Fishermen join fight to save endangered Pakistan dolphin
https://arab.news/6zs9b
Foe to friend: Fishermen join fight to save endangered Pakistan dolphin
- Decades of uncontrolled fishing and habitat loss caused by pollution and man-made dams saw the dolphin population plummet to around 1,200
- In a bid to turn around mammals' fortunes, local wildlife officials began painstaking door-to-door awareness campaign
Pakistan felicitates Palestinians on 36th independence anniversary, reaffirms support
- Palestinians proclaimed the Declaration of Independence on Nov. 15, 1988, in Algiers
- Pakistan calls support to the Palestinian cause a ‘consistent facet’ of its foreign policy
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Friday felicitated the people of Palestine on the 36th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, saying its support for the Palestinian cause has been the most consistent feature of the country’s foreign policy.
Proclaimed on November 15, 1988, during a meeting of the Palestine National Council in Algiers, the Declaration of Independence envisioned a sovereign Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with Jerusalem as its capital.
It marked an important movement in the Palestinian struggle for self-determination and has since been a symbol of their aspirations for statehood.
“On the occasion of Declaration of Independence Day of the State of #Palestine, we extend our heartiest felicitations to its people and the Government,” the foreign office said in a social media post.
“Pakistan’s unflinching support to the Palestinian cause has been a consistent facet of our foreign policy,” it added. “We reaffirm our strong commitment to the Palestinian right to self-determination and our unwavering support for the establishment of an independent, viable, and contiguous state of Palestine, with Al-Quds-Al-Sharif as its Capital.”
https://x.com/foreignofficepk/status/1857363177463283765?s=46&t=x28vcP-XUuQ0CWAu-biScA
The anniversary comes as the death toll in Gaza has surpassed 43,700 since the beginning of Israel’s military campaign more than a year ago, displacing nearly the entire population of the Palestinian territory.
Most of those killed in Israeli airstrikes and ground offensives are reported to be women and children, while the international community fears that the conflict could spread to the rest of the Middle East.
The situation has also exacerbated humanitarian concerns, with the United Nations warning of an impending famine in the besieged territory, where residents face acute shortages of food, water and medical supplies.
Muslims in Pakistan’s smog-shrouded Punjab province pray for rain
- The special prayer was held at over 600 government-run mosques in the province
- Punjab grapples every winter with smog, but the situation has worsened recently
LAHORE: Pakistan’s Punjab province declared a health emergency due to toxic smog on Friday, banning construction, shutting schools for another week and moving universities online, while hundreds of thousands of Muslims prayed for rain and forgiveness.
The faithful gathered at over 600 government-run mosques in the province for “Namaz-e-Istisqa,” a voluntary prayer for rain often offered in times of calamities, said Talha Mahmood, spokesman for the provincial Religious Affairs department.
“Today, we prayed for rain to decrease smog, though it is caused by humans’ own mistakes,” said Muhammad Ejaz, 48, who led prayers at a mosque in the sprawling provincial capital Lahore, adding the prayer aimed at seeking God’s forgiveness for people’s sins.
The province, Pakistan’s most populous, grapples every winter with smog, but air pollution has worsened in recent years, as a result of cold air trapping dust, low-grade diesel fumes and smoke from illegal stubble burning on fields.
Sajid Bashir, spokesman for the provincial Environment Department, attributed this year’s severe pollution to a lack of rain in September and October.
“Last year, rain spells reduced particulate matter; this year, we’re still waiting,” he said on Friday.
Lahore has topped Swiss group IQAir readings as the world’s most polluted city, for most of the week.
Punjab Senior Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb, announcing smog-reduction measures at a press conference, said the government had ordered the closure of construction, brick kilns, and furnace-based plants in Lahore and the city of Multan.
She said there would be a complete three-day lockdown from next Friday if the situation does not improve.
Last week the province ordered schools to close until Nov. 17, and on Friday the shift to online learning was extended for another week. Colleges and universities will also shut down, moving to virtual classes.
Authorities have already banned entry to parks, zoos, playgrounds and other public spaces.
Other parts of South Asia are also dealing with high levels of pollution and Punjab blames neighboring India for contributing to its hazardous air quality. New Delhi, the world’s most polluted capital, has banned non-essential construction, moved children to virtual classrooms and asked residents to avoid using coal and wood from Friday.
Pakistan orders telecom regulator to block VPNs, citing militant use
- Interior ministry says ‘terrorists’ have been exploiting VPN services for violence, financial transactions
- Government has set up a portal for VPN registration, which can be done by the end of the ongoing month
ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Interior sent a letter to the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA) on Friday, asking it to block illegal Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) across the country while citing their use by militant groups for financial transactions and violent activities.
This directive follows international criticism of Pakistan’s Internet restrictions, notably after the February general elections, where allegations of electoral manipulation led to the blocking of social media platform X.
Media reports also suggested the government was setting up a national firewall, which had led to the slowdown of Internet speed across Pakistan, saying the decision was taken to curb “anti-state narratives” by political activists.
More recently, the PTA launched a new portal for VPN registration, saying it wanted to ensure secure and uninterrupted operations for online users and businesses.
“I am directed to refer to the subject cited above [about blockage of illegal VPNs] and to state that VPNs are increasingly being exploited by terrorists to facilitate violent activities and financial transactions in Pakistan,” the ministry’s letter to the PTA chairman noted.
“Of late, an alarming fact has been identified, wherein VPNs are used by terrorists to obscure and conceal their communications,” it added. “VPNs are also being used for discreetly access pornographic and blasphemous contents.”
Earlier this week, the PTA already disclosed that nearly 20 million Pakistanis try to access pornographic websites on a daily basis that were banned by the authorities in 2011.
The letter requested the top PTA official to block illegal VPNs nationwide while pointing out that registration of VPNs with PTA could be made the end of the ongoing month.
VPN users in Pakistan have already reported significant disruptions to services since last weekend, with issues relating to connectivity and restricted access.
Pakistan’s decision to impose online restrictions have been questioned by free speech activists and businesses alike.
PREDA, Pakistan’s first membership-based organization dedicated to promoting and protecting the interests of professionals, also wrote a letter to the government earlier in the day, appealing for the adoption of stable digital policies to support growth and build an eco system for global competitiveness.
WHO says fake finger markings hampering Pakistan’s polio eradication efforts
- Health officials terminated polio team members found involved in 60 such cases in Balochistan province in August
- Pakistan has reported 49 new polio cases this year mainly from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces
ISLAMABAD, PESHAWAR & QUETTA: The World Health Organization said on Friday “fake finger markings” were one of the major factors hampering Pakistan’s polio eradication efforts, as the South Asian country reported the 49th case of the virus this week.
Pakistan, along with neighboring Afghanistan, remains the last polio-endemic country in the world. The nation’s polio eradication campaign has hit serious problems with a spike in reported cases this year that has raised doubts over the quality of vaccination reporting and prompted officials to review their approach to stopping the crippling disease.
Polio, a disease transmitted through sewage which can cause crippling paralysis particularly in young children, is incurable and remains a threat to human health as long as it has not been eradicated. Immunization campaigns have succeeded in most countries and have come close in Pakistan, but persistent problems remain.
“Some of the gaps and issues that were identified during campaigns included fake finger marking and altered campaign modalities mainly in South Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,” WHO spokesperson Maryam Younas told Arab News on Friday in answers to written questions.
Local officials say parents suspicious of mass immunization campaigns have been getting hold of special markers, used by health workers to put a colored spot on the little fingers of children to identify that they have been vaccinated.
The fake finger marking, sometimes done in collusion with health workers, hide the true scale of refusal rates and thus gaps in vaccination.
Provincial authorities in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where 10 cases have been confirmed this year, and Balochistan, where 24 were reported, also said fake finger markings were an obstacle for eradication efforts.
In August this year, the Balochistan Provincial Emergency Operation Center said it had exposed a nexus between parents refusing polio drops for their children and polio teams involved in fake finger marking. Around 60 cases of fake finger markings were identified in various districts of Balochistan and the teams involved were terminated.
“Fake finger markings, low immunization drives, and malnourished children are three prime causes for this rapid surge in polio cases,” Dr. Aftab Kakar, the provincial team lead for the National Stop Transmission of Polio (N-Stop) in Balochistan, said.
The KP Governor’s Focal Person for polio, Tariq Habib, also said fake finger-marking had led to “decreased trust and effectiveness in vaccination efforts.”
The WHO spokesperson suggested that the targeted vaccination of children was pivotal for achieving success against polio, adding that it was essential to focus on children who were “consistently missed due to operational gaps, vaccine hesitancy, security issues, and boycotts.”
This year, 24 cases of polio have been reported in Balochistan, 13 in Sindh, 10 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and one each in Punjab and the federal capital of Islamabad. In the early 1990s, Pakistan reported around 20,000 cases annually but in 2018 the number dropped to eight cases. Six cases were reported in 2023 and only one in 2021.
Pakistan’s polio eradication program began in 1994, and the number of cases has declined dramatically since then. But efforts to eradicate the virus have for years been undermined by opposition from some religious hard-liners, who say immunization is a foreign ploy to sterilize Muslim children or a cover for Western spies. Militant groups also frequently attack and kill members of polio vaccine teams.
In July 2019, a vaccination drive in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was thwarted after mass panic was created by rumors that children were fainting or vomiting after being immunized.
Public health studies in Pakistan have shown that maternal illiteracy and low parental knowledge about vaccines, together with poverty and rural residency, are also factors that commonly influence whether parents vaccinate their children against polio.
Pakistan’s Punjab launches 10-year smog plan amid record air pollution
- Government has distributed super seeders to farmers to support precision seeding
- 800 brick kilns demolished instead of being sealed which briefly happens each year
ISLAMABAD: Punjab Senior Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb on Friday announced the provincial government had launched a 10-year smog mitigation plan, as record-high air pollution levels have triggered hundreds of hospitalizations, school closures and stay-at-home orders in several districts of the Pakistan’s most populous province.
On Friday, the provincial capital of Lahore, home to 13 million people, had the worst air quality of any city in the world, according to live readings by IQAir, a Swiss air quality monitoring company.
Toxic smog has enveloped Lahore and at least 17 other districts in Punjab since last month, where health officials have been forced to close down schools and government offices, among other measures.
“For the first time, Punjab has developed a 10-year climate change policy,” Aurangzeb said while addressing a press conference in Lahore, saying Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif was “personally” monitoring the plan’s implementation.
Pakistan, like neighboring India, battles pollution each year as temperatures fall and cold air traps construction dust, vehicle emissions and smoke as farmers illegally burn paddy stubble to clear fields. Prohibited brick-kilns and smoke-emitting vehicles also contribute to the problem.
Speaking about measures taken to combat air pollution, the minister said the Punjab government had distributed super seeders to farmers, bearing 60 percent of their cost while farmers paid the remaining 40 percent. The no-till planters are designed for precision seeding which helps farmers contribute to cleaner air, improved soil health, and a more sustainable agricultural ecosystem.
“We have an aim of distributing 5,000 super seeders in Punjab by July next year,” the minister said. “We have now engaged more companies to increase production of super seeders.”
Aurangzeb also said authorities had demolished 800 brick kilns.
“We did not seal them this time because they would begin operating again from January if they were only sealed,” she added.
The minister said environmental control systems to detect smoke had been set up through loans provided by the Punjab government.
“More than 90 small and medium sized industries have installed the system using this loan,” she said, encouraging people to help with the afforestation of Lahore.
“Forest cover of Lahore should be 36 percent on international standard, it is 3 percent now,” Aurangzeb said. “Green master plan of Lahore has been made. Implementation has started. Forest cover is planned to be increased, which is a part of this plan.”
Earlier this week, the government of Punjab closed all high schools in the province until Nov. 17 due to persisting smog.
Primary schools and government offices had already been closed until Nov. 17 in many districts of Punjab earlier this month, with school closures likely to affect the education of more than 20 million students, according to associations representing private and government schools.
Authorities in 18 districts of Punjab also closed all public parks, zoos and museums, historical places, and playgrounds for ten days last week.
On Friday, a court in Lahore ordered the government to shut all markets after 8pm. Authorities have already banned barbecuing food without filters and ordered wedding halls to close by 10pm.
On Monday, the UN children’s agency said the health of 11 million children in Punjab province was in danger because of air pollution.
