RAWALPINDI: The President,Mr Fazal Ellahi Chaudhry, today [Oct 21] called for immediate action to avoid `irreparable damage to our environment`. Inaugurating a ... seminar on `Ecology, Environment and Afforestation` ... the President urged professional associations, mass media and other institutions to make a major effort to highlight environmental problem and educate the public ...

which ... would encourage public participation and strengthen the Government`s hands in combating environmental issues.

The President said that Pakistan, which was relatively free from environmental problems being faced by highly industrialised nations, had now started experiencing them...

. Till recently ... Pakistan`s air was clean. ...

Today industrial and motor vehicle emission was making the air in large cities ... unbreathable. Drinking water was polluted. Extensive damage could be done in rural areas from the increasing use of pesticides. ... Destruction of forests ... had proceeded unabated. ... The destructive force of human demands continued to increase with the unprecedented growth of population. ... [He] said the concern for environment in Pakistan was a recent development. Islamabad Bureau