KU, Ismail Industries initiate first plantation drive of 2024

The University of Karachi in collaboration with Ismail Industries Limited initiated the first plantation drive of the year 2024 on the campus on Friday.

The KU Vice Chancellor Professor Dr Khalid Mahmood Iraqi, the Chief Executive Officer of Bisconni, the Director of Ismail Industries Ltd Hamid Ismail, the KU Secretary of Landscape and Gardening Council Dr Waqar Ahmed, Professor Dr Muhammad Faheem Siddiqui from the KU Department of Botany, the KU Chairperson of Department of Microbiology Professor Dr Tanvir Abbas along with the faculty members, students and staff, and the representatives of Ismail Industries planted different saplings in front of the microbiology department.

The Ismail Industries has provided a total of 1000 plants including white and yellow Ficus 100 each, 200 Ulta Ashok, and 600 Bougainvillea, while in the next stages, they will bring a total of 60, 000 plants of different categories to the University of Karachi.

Earlier, the Director of Ismail Industries Limited Hamid Ismail, the Culture and Sustainability Leader of Ismail Industries Ltd Mushk Udassi, the Deputy Manager-Admin Operations Farhan Mehmood, Manager-HR Servies Anis Ahmed, the Assistant Manager-HR Services Masood Ahmed Siddiqui, and Sustainability Specialists of Ismail Industries Ltd Arhama met the KU VC Professor Dr Khalid Iraqi, Professor Dr Muhammad Faheem Siddiqui, Dr Waqar Ahmed, Dr Salman Zubair Advisor Campus Security Affairs, and others at the KU VC Secretariat.

Hamid Ismail shared that they came to the University of Karachi to avail the expertise of KU faculty to make Karachi a greener city and would like to expand their work in other parts of the country in the later stage.

He mentioned that recently Dubai which is considered one of the best cities in the world has faced the heaviest rainfall of its history and the whole infrastructure was badly disturbed by the rainwater.

He said that climate change has affected the United States and China among many other countries including Pakistan. He added that although both countries have a lot of resources and the latest technologies but they badly suffered due to recent climate changes.

“The world is witnessing a visible change in weather conditions and temperature after every 10 years.”

According to him, Ismail Industries has been providing clean drinking water and medical camps for needy people for quite some time and now would like to focus on reducing the impact of global warming in Pakistan.

Hamid Ismail mentioned that they came to the KU to get connected with the faculty and utilized their experience in minimizing the effects of climate change in the metropolitan.

On this occasion, the KU VC Professor Dr Khalid Mahmood Iraqi informed the visitors that the University of Karachi usually launched three to four plantation drives in a year and often collaborates with the private sector and also engages students and the corporate sectors in planting saplings in different parts of the campus.

He shared that we have to work together against the serious challenges of global warming, climate change, flooding, and harsh weather conditions. He said that it must be the duty of every citizen to combat climate change as no one can fight against it alone.

“The governments and private sectors do not have enough resources to reduce the impact of climate change on their own. We have to combine all available resources to take serious measures against this challenge.”

He observed that issues like global warming and climate change are very serious and they are threats to our generations. The KU VC Professor Dr Khalid Iraqi stressed that a lot of work needs to be done to minimize the impact of global warming.

He observed that Karachi has become a cemented city and hardly a few areas have greenery, and advised massive plantation drives throughout the year in the mega city.