مولانا احمد سعید
افسوس ہے کہ مولانا احمد سعید صاحب صدر جمعیۃ علمائے ہند نے ۴؍ دسمبر کو انتقال فرمایا، مولانا مرحوم ان علمائے دین میں تھے جن کی پوری زندگی ملک و ملت کی خدمت میں گزری۔ وہ جنگ آزادی کے نامور مجاہد تھے اور اس راہ میں بارہا قیدوبند کی مصیبتیں جھیلیں، مولانا کفایت اﷲ صاحب اور مولانا حسین احمد صاحب مرحوم کے بعد اس طبقہ کے علماء میں ایک مولانا احمد سعید ہی کی ذات رہ گئی تھی۔ وہ بھی ہم سے جدا ہوگئے۔
افسوس کز قبیلۂ مجنون کسے نماند
دینی، ملی اور سیاسی خدمات کے ساتھ مولانا بڑے خوش بیان خطیب تھے، دلی کی ٹکسالی زبان بولتے تھے، باتیں کرتے تو منہ سے پھول جھڑتے تھے، شرافت اور وضعداری میں بھی دلی کی پرانی تہذیب کا نمونہ تھے، طبعاً بڑے زندہ دل اور خوش مذاق تھے جس محفل میں بیٹھتے تھے اپنی باتوں سے پوری محفل کو مائل کرلیتے تھے۔ عرصہ ہوا ایک سیاسی مقدمہ کے سلسلہ میں ان کو کچھ دنوں اعظم گڑھ میں رہنا پڑا تھا۔ دارالمصنفین میں قیام تھا۔ اعظم گڑھ ہی کی عدالت سے ان کو سزا ہوئی اور یہیں کے جیل میں قید ہوئے، اس لیے مولانا کو قریب سے دیکھنے کا موقع ملا، اسی زمانہ سے ان کے حسن اخلاق اور پرلطف صحبت کا جو نقش قائم ہوا تھا وہ اب تک باقی ہے۔ مولانا اپنے دور کی آخری یادگار تھے۔ اس لیے ان کی وفات سے ایک دور کا خاتمہ ہوگیا، اﷲ تعالیٰ اس خادم دین و ملت کو اپنی بے پایاں رحمت و مغفرت سے سرفراز فرمائے۔
(شاہ معین الدین ندوی، دسمبر ۱۹۵۹ء)
COVID-19 pandemic is a global health crisis with 61, 149,391 confirmed cases and 370,478 deaths till 29May, 2020 [1]. This pandemic has shattered many economies with an estimated loss of $5.8 trillion to $8.8 trillion globally. This economic loss can result in reduction in funds to World Health Organization. Unfortunately, United States of America (USA) has announced termination of any further funding to WHO which can lead to another global health crisis[2]. As WHO is a voluntary funding based organization its main donor are America, China, Japan, Germany and United Kingdom. Among these USA is the main donor with a contribution of $115.8million alone followed by China $57.4 million, Japan $41million, Germany $29.1 million and UK $21.9 million [3]. America’s termination of funding can put WHO and child health programs in serious crisis. Among many programs run by WHO one of the most important program is immunization of children. Immunization coverage programs save 2-3 million livesper year causing decline in measles related deaths, eradication of polio, surveillance of rotavirus, BCG and DTaP vaccination in children[4]. It is estimated that during MillenniumDevelopment Goal (MDG) there is overall decline in child related mortalities due to malaria, measles, diarrhea, AIDS and meningitis [5]. Remarkable results are achieved with measles are diarrhea immunization programs causing a decline in death rate by 73% and 80% respectively. According to a study with current success rate diarrhea related deaths can be virtually eliminated by 2030. Another successful program is “End Polio” program which eradicated polio from world except from Pakistan and Afghanistan [4][6]. This termination of funds to WHO can waste all previous efforts in developing countries. On the other hand despite of all efforts still 19.4 million children did not received prescribed dose of vaccines. Data analysis revealed among these 60% of children belong to 10 developing countries namelyAngola, Brazil, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines and Viet Nam [4]. These countries mainly rely on foreign funding and Non-Government Organization (NGOs) for child health care programs.
Water is a fundamental resource for sustainable social and economic development of any country. Freshwater resources are becoming scarce due to inevitable demand for food, industrial development and growing urban and rural population. Over the last few decades, demand for the agricultural products has been increased due to the population and economic growth. This has exerted immense pressure on the available water resources. Pakistan is located in the arid region of the world with an average annual rainfall less than 240 mm.Being an agriculture based economy the availability of fresh water is essential for sustainable economic development. The goal of this research was to analyze the environmental sustainability of blue, green and grey water footprint in Peshawar Basin during the period 1986 to 2015. The basin is located in the northwest of Indus Basin at longitude of 710 15/ and 720 45/ E and latitude 330 45/ and 340 30/ N in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan that covers an area of 5617 km2 and has 9.78 million inhabitants. Blue and green water scarcity was selected as an indicator to assess the environmental sustainability of water footprints. Further, the study was aimed to assess the potential impact of dam on Kabul river water pollution. The water pollution level was estimated under normal and reduced runoff scenarios for an increased upstream use of water from Kabul River in Afghanistan. The annual blue and green water availability and scarcity was calculated following global water footprint assessment standard during the period 1986-2015 and annual blue and green water footprints of crops were estimated using AquaCrop model. The AquaCrop output was post-processed to separate incoming and outgoing water fluxes and soil water content into blue and green water components; considering blue water fluxes from irrigation and capillary rise. Consequently, evapotranspiration (ET) originating from irrigation water, capillary rise and rainwater was tracked out. Grey water footprints is used as an indicator to assess environmental sustainability related to nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) pollution in Peshawar Basin, Pakistan. The N and P pollutants load from artificial fertilizers, animal manure, household and industrial sources were considered during 1986 to 2015. The results showed that per capita water availability dropped from 1700 m3 per in 1986 to 600 m3 in 2015. In terms of per capita water availability the basin has turned from “water stressed” in 1986 to “water scarced’ in 2015. Further, both the blue and green water footprint of agriculture has decreased from 2139 million m3 in 1986 that reduced to 1738 million m3 in xi 2015. Similarly, the green water flow from agricultural land was 1231 million m3 in 1986 which reduced to 1104 million m3 in 2015. The domestic water footprint has increased from 13 million m3 in 1986 to 29 million m3 in 2015.The average of 30 years blue water footprint of maize, rice, tobacco, wheat, barley, sugar cane and sugar beet were 7077, 3932, 2176, 1913, 1561, 181 and 174 m3/ton, respectively. The mean values of green water footprint were 2744, 2254, 1985, 1535, 1603, 67 and 45 m3/ton, respectively. The 30 years average annual blue water consumption of sugar cane, maize, wheat, tobacco, sugar beet, rice and barley was 655, 623, 494, 57, 32, 14 and 11 million m3, respectively while green water was 308, 236, 391, 52, 8, 8, and 11 million m3, respectively. The average annual blue and green water consumption of agricultural sector in Peshawar Basin was 1886 and 1014 million m3 respectively.Average of 30-years N-related WFgrey showed that artificial fertilizer contributed 61%, livestock manure 36%, household sources 2% and industries 1% while for P-related WFgrey, the contribution from artificial fertilizer, livestock manure and household sources were 50%, 49% and 1%, respectively. Averaged 30-years N and P associated WFgrey of the basin were 50´108 m3/y and 50´109 m3/y respectively. The water pollution level was estimated under normal and reduced runoff scenarios for an increased upstream use of water from Kabul River in Afghanistan. N-related WPL was within the sustainability limit of 100% while Prelated WPL exceeded sustainable limits in every year under normal runoff and were worse in each reduced runoff scenarios.This study shows that the blue and green water scarcity are less than 100% and are low water scarcity level. It provided a baseline information for the sustainability, food security and water productivity of crops. This would be helpful for policy makers for efficient irrigation management and water conservation in Peshawar valley. The study further shows the deterioration of water quality of Kabul River and the findings may be helpful for future planning and management of the basin