KARACHI: Criticising the government for failing to reduce the effect of the recent heatwave that left hundreds of people dead, the Women Action Forum has observed that most of the city`s green cover has been cut down in the name of development and demanded citywide plantation drive and protection of open spaces so that people do not again face such a situation.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, the WAF a civil society organisation said the heatwave had impacted the vulnerable people and underprivileged communities, as the prime victims included homeless people, drug addicts, beggars, hawkers and manual labourers and people living in congested spaces with little or no access to water supply and prolonged loadshedding.

It said that nearly 35 per cent of those who died were women, while 25 per cent were street dwellers as extreme poverty, bad urban infrastructure, poor development and poor governance compounded the climate crises exponentially in the city.

It said that Indus Basin climate was changing and Indus Deltaic plains were heating up due to frequent heatwave phenomenon ranging from mild to moderate to very severe in intensity.

Climate change was termed an ultimate threat multiplier, it said, adding that experts explained the recent heatwave in the city as `urban heat island` phenomenon whereby concrete surfaces absorbed sunlight and hot air during the daytime and released it slowly during the night. This phenomenon could increase the city temperature up to 50 degrees Celsius, the experts believed.

The WAF stated it was observed that most of the city`s green cover had been cut down in the name of urban development.

Trees had been chopped down to broaden roads, build flyovers and underpasses, for security concerns or simply to place billboards.

It demanded launch of a citywide plantation campaign as some environmentalists termed trees and plants natural air conditioners and the `lungs of a city`.

The WAF also asked the government to compensate the victims` families and bear the burial expenses. It also recommended the authorities concerned that in time of crisis, mosques, schools, community centres, wedding halls, which have open space, power and water supply be opened for public use.

The organisation also called for the repeal of the Ehteram-iRamazan Ordinance, 1981, which prohibited eating and serving of eatables at public places altogether. The government should improve water supply and it s distribution, while the K-Electric be directed to ensure uninterrupted power supply, the WAF stated.

Besides, a campaign be launched to educate the masses to develop green spaces, cover their head and use umbrella to avoid direct sunlight, the statement added.