Groundbreaking ceremony of College of Earth and Environmental Sciences was held at Punjab University new campus on Thursday. Speaking on the occasion, Punjab University Vice-chancellor Arshad Mahmood said that keeping in view the environmental issues.
Punjab University started the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences in year 2000 and it has now been raised as College of Earth and Environmental Sciences in year 2005 by merging Postgraduate Centre for Earth Sciences, Institute of Environmental Sciences and Centre for Hydrology to promote greater harmony and co-ordination in teaching and research programmes in consonance with national needs and aspirations.
The college offers placements in the fields of environmental sciences, petroleum exploration, metrology, hydrology, gemmology, natural and construction materials, ecotourism and hotel management covering both pure and applied aspects. Besides, short-term diploma/certificate and long-term graduate and post-graduate courses as well as M. Phil and doctoral programmes are being offered in the college, he added.
In view of the fast deteriorating environmental scenario of Pakistan, importance of the discipline of environmental sciences can hardly be over-emphasised, he maintained. Ever-expanding anthropogenic activities world over, have created global and regional problems of pollution, acid rains, global warming, deforestation, soil erosion and silting of dam reservoirs, contamination of surface and ground waters, influx of hazardous chemicals into the environment, air quality and atmospheric emissions etc. Over-exploitation of natural resources is posing a grave threat to the environment, confronting us with dangers of degradation and possible elimination of the ecological infrastructure so it is essential for us as well as for our future generations, he added.
Principal, College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Professor Dr Iftikhar Hussain Baloch said that discipline of environmental sciences is getting due attention and importance in the developing world as well in Pakistan in view of rather fast deterioration of the quality of its environment.
He said that in view of the ambitious and ever-expanding programmes of the college and to acute paucity of space available for teaching and especially for research, the vice-chancellor decided to build a new building for the college. He told that the college sprawling over an adequate piece of land is designed to be a 3-storey building with a total covered area of 125,000 sq. ft and it will be completed in 3 phases with an amount of Rs 12 million.
Dean, Faculty of Science, Professor Dr Kamran Mujahid said that a lot of physical and academic development has taken place during the regime of sitting VC in Punjab University. He also mentioned that during the last over 6 years, the government of General Pervez Musharraf took keen interest in education sector, and launched a number of reform initiatives.
Comments
Comments are closed.