A joint seminar and painting
competition was organized on the 24th of November 2022 at the Department
of Environmental Sciences, AWKUM with the support of WaterAid Pakistan to commemorate
the World Toilet Day 2022. This was a part of the series of events organized by
WaterAid Pakistan across the country to celebrate and contribute
toward the global observance to raise awareness about the impacts of sanitation
on groundwater. The aim is to make the invisible visible and promote making groundwater protection a reality. Participants from
academia, civil society organizations, NGOs, water and sanitation service providers,
practitioners and government line department officials attended the event.
Dr. Dilawar Farhan Shams, Chairman Department of the Environmental
Sciences, AWKUM welcomed the participants and delivered a talk on the domestic wastewater
treatment. Engr. Pervaiz Nasir from Water Aid Pakistan briefly discussed the aims
and objectives of the event, and WaterAid interventions in Pakistan. During the
session, both national and international researchers and academicians presented
their research findings that broadly covered the Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene
(WASH) thematic areas. It was revealed that over 3.6 billion people, almost half of the world population,
do not have access to safely managed sanitation at their home. Similarly, in
Pakistan about 30% of the population live in poor sanitation condition, 75% of toilets
are not linked with septic tank, and 19% defecate in the open.
Lack
of proper drainage system, poor hygiene and inappropriate latrines contribute to
raising water borne diseases. The researchers explicitly linked WASH related disease
transmission routes in their presentations. Dr. Cheng, a researcher from the Center
of Environmental Sanitation in the Beijing University of Science and Technology
China, joined remotely and gave a brief lecture on the non-sewered sanitation
system as an alternative option to the conventional sewer sanitation system. Dr.
Shams Ali Baig of AWKUM presented his research on the prevalence of sanitation-related
pathogens in drinking water distribution systems in Mardan and highlighted that
it is one of the alarming issues in present drinking water distribution networks.
Mr. Muhammad Ishaq, Solid Waste Management Manager of Water Supply and
Sanitation Services Mardan (WSSCM) delivered a talk on the provision of water
and sanitation services in urban Mardan.
In parallel, about 16
Pakhtunkhwa College of Arts (PCA) AWKUM students participated in watercolor painting
competition. The objective was to develop and highlight the links of WASH and
environmental pollution issues with human health. Keynote speakers and the painting
competition students sensitized the audience well on how an adequate sanitation system can improve public health and has long
lasting beneficial impacts on social and economic development
by timely achieving the SDG goal 6, Clean Water and Sanitation.
At
the end, Prof. Dr. Sultan Ayaz, Pro-vice Chancellor AWKUM in his closing remarks
reiterated the importance of toilets in social life and thanked WaterAid
Pakistan for the financial support and choosing AWKUM for this event. The Pro-vice
Chancellor also distributed certificates of appreciation and shield among the painting
competition position holders and the keynote speakers. The event ended with a
walk within the campus to raise awareness on the World Toilet Day.
