Expressing grave concerns over the rampant environmental degradation in the country, environmental experts have said that Pakistan, especially Sindh, is facing an environmental disaster.

Indian defence scientists have found that temperature in the North-Western Himalayan range, spread over Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh and the source of most of Indus line rivers and their tributaries, have risen by nearly 1.4 degrees Celsius over the last 100 years.

The National Economic Council (NEC) on Thursday allocated Rs 50 million for the third phase of Khanpur Dam Water Supply Project (KDWSP) in the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) 2009-10.

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani chaired the NEC meeting.

The Defence Ministry had demanded Rs 200 million for the phase whose total cost is around Rs 700 million.

The City District Government Karachi (CDGK) has linked some 70 pre-partition villages in the rural areas of Keamari Town and Scheme-42 through a 62-kilometre long road network, extending it to the RCD Highway, Hub Chowki and Hawkesbay Road at a cost of Rs 400 million.

To generate clean and cheaper electricity for future requirements all resources would be utilised for timely completion of the Diamer-Basha dam project, Federal Minister for Water and Power, Raja Pervez Ashraf said on Monday.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has said smokers have a 70 percent higher death rate than non-smokers. According to WHO, there are approximately 1.1 billion regular smokers in the world, which is one-third of the population aged 15 years and above. According to the figures, roughly 47 percent of men and 12 percent of women are smokers.

To supply potable water to the city residents in accordance with standards approved by World Health Organization (WHO), Capital Development Authority (CDA) will hire a multinational company to run its 32 water filtration plants installed in various sectors.

Despite the Supreme Court

Approximately 0.1 million people die every year in Pakistan from diseases caused by tobacco, doctors quoted medical researches as saying on Sunday on

The city residents are vulnerable to floods during monsoon and epidemics, as Capital Development Authority (CDA) releases untreated sewage into Leh Nullah, said Water and Sanitation Agency (WASA) Managing Director (MD) Col (R) Islamul Haq on Thursday.