• Chief Minister Sindh Murad Ali Shah meets with Australian High Commissioner Mr. Neil Hawkins at CM House.
• Australian High Commissioner expressed profound grief and sorrow over the loss of life caused by the recent floods.
• He added that internally displaced persons (IDPs) were facing numerous problems while issues of dengue, malaria, and skin have broken out among the people

KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has said that agricultural water is becoming an expensive commodity, therefore we would have to use it efficiently to ensure food security by changing cropping patterns.

This he said on Wednesday while talking to Australian High Commissioner Mr. Neil Hawkins who called on him here at CM House.

At the outset of the meeting, the Australian High Commissioner expressed profound grief and sorrow over the loss of life caused by the recent floods. He added that the impact of climate change has started emerging in the shape of heavy downpours, scorching heat, and melting of heat.

Murad Ali Shah said that Pakistan, particularly the people of Sindh has become the first victims of climate change. He added that internally displaced persons (IDPs) were facing numerous problems.

He said that the issues of dengue, malaria, and skin have broken out among the people living along the main roads and camps.

“We have established medical camps to provide treatment to the patients and trying to drain out accumulated water at the earliest so that these issues could be controlled,” he said.

The high commissioner said that the flood water could be released into the River so that it could be discharged into the sea. He added that it would help maintain the stability of the ecosystem.

At this, the chief minister said that unfortunately some of our people believe that releasing water into the sea through the rivers was waste [of water], as a matter of fact, it was necessary to stop sea intrusion.

Murad Ali Shah said that in the early Kharif we faced an acute shortage of water and then heavy downpours turned everything upside down. He added that water was becoming an expensive commodity, therefore we have to make its efficient use for agricultural purposes.

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The visiting diplomat and the chief minister agreed to take benefit from each other’s experiences in respect of cropping patterns and high-yield crops.