Pakistan is no doubt a beautiful country, but its citizens are trying their best to transform it into a worse place to live in. The list of detrimental activities of the people that are spoiling our environment and society are infinite, but the question is who should be held responsible for this menace? Wherever one sees piles of garbage, filthy water streams or harmful smoke emissions, he blames the management, but before the authorities it is citizens who should be blamed. One of the reasons for environmental pollution is our careless attitude. The residential waste is thrown out in open places. Resources like water, electricity, fuel and wood are abused and wasted. People keep cutting down the trees without any interest in planting new ones. This is contributing to global warming. Such a situation can be tackled by the collective efforts of both the public and the government since the latter too is not appropriately fulfilling its duties. Millions of trees are being cut down in the name of development, electricity is being produced by using furnace oil rather than consuming renewable sources like solar energy, wind and biogas, which in addition to intensifying environmental issues, is also affecting the economy of Pakistan. Along with adopting measures to discourage these practices, there is a dire need for the government to pass and implement strict environmental laws especially regarding pollution and deforestation and any citizen found to be violating those laws should be heavily fined. As citizens of Pakistan, we all should recognize our responsibility to embrace such approaches that prove to be beneficial for our environment and country. Farhat Khalid Islamabad
