Speakers at a meeting of Shura Hamdard Karachi chapter urged the government to develop solar energy, wind energy and coal energy as a source of alternative energy and to construct small dams in order to overcome the prevailing crisis of electricity and water in the country. The meeting was held on Thursday on the theme: 'Crisis of energy and water', presided over by former diplomat, Qutubuddin Aziz at a local hotel.
Speaking on the occasion Professor Dr Nasim A. Khan, Vice Chancellor, Hamdard University said that 100,000 megawatt electricity was being produced from wind energy in the world. We should also try to produce electricity from wind, sun, coal and hydropower to meet our electricity requirements, he said, adding: 'Along with coal, we shall find water too because where is coal, there is also water'.
He said that 50,000 megawatt electricity could be produced from the wind blowing in the area from Karachi to Hyderabad. Some private investors had already erected their wind energy plants in this area.
He said there were opportunities of geo thermal power also in our country as there were many hot water springs in the country eg the hot water springs at Manghopir, Karachi, at Koh Sultan in Balochistan, and at Astore in Gilgat which were so hot that one could not put one's hand in their water and electricity could be produced from their water.
There was no dearth of wind and sun in our country, so the work on solar and wind energy must be started on national level immediately to overcome the crisis of energy, he added. 'We have established a 'Solar Energy Lab' at Hamdard University, he said and showed the work, done by the University on wind and solar energy' through the slides to the audience.
He appealed to the government and the rich people to support the Hamdard University in its quest to find out the sources of alternative energy. Sadia Rashid, President, Hamdard Foundation Pakistan said that women could play an important role in saving water and energy by using -less water, gas and electricity and by learning the ways of water recycling in their homes.
Since they now had their representation in Shura Hamdard, they could use this forum to give message of economy in water and energy to the Pakistani women. Anwar Aziz Jakartawalla said that solar energy was the only answer of the energy deficit and government should give subsidy on solar energy.
Scientist Dr Arshad All Beg said that the coal is the biggest source of energy of both water and electricity in our country as we had 185 billion tons coal reservoir in Tharparker. 300 million tons coal could produce 1000-megawatt electricity per year for the coming 30 years, he said adding: "We have also a capacity of 1000 megawatts electricity through hydropower".
Haq Nawaz Akhtar said that universities should do the research work on alternative energy and government must give them grant for it. Commending the efforts, made by the Hamdard University in research on alternative energy and its pilot project he said that it should be publicised so that people might take advantages out of it.
Safia Malik was of the view that we should construct, as many as we could, small dams for water and make projects to produce electricity through solar energy and windmills in our deserts. Brigadier Syed Zafarul Hasan (Retd) said that Bhawalpure and Multan were the ideal places of Pakistan to produce solar and wind energy as Multan was famous for its sun and Bhawalpure for its hot windstorms, which run from April to September without fail.
Dr Abubkar Sheikh, Colonel Mukhtar Ahmed Butt (Retd), Sarshar Siddiqui, Commodore Sadeed Anwar Malik (Retd), Naushaba Khalil, Qudsia Akbar, Masud Ahmed Barakati, Professor Dr Akhlaque Ahmed, Hasan Aslam Zubairi andd Dr Naeem Qureshi also spoke Shura in a unanimous condolence resolution condoled the death of Begum Amjad Ali Jaffery, Mahmood Haroon and Ahmed Faraz and offered fateha for them.-PR