President Dr Arif Alvi has advocated for the adoption of green and sustainable building methods in the housing and construction industries to save energy, preserve the country's finite natural resources and encourage sustainable living, Speaking at the opening ceremony of the Building Materials Exhibition 2023, which was put on by the Rawalpindi Chapter of the Institute of Architects of Pakistan, he said that rethinking, redesigning, rebuilding, and reusing materials and resources has become essential for promoting climate-friendly and resilient infrastructure in the country.

The president stated that the field of architecture was significant since it served as the foundation for the building industry and supplied the public with high-quality, visually beautiful lodgings. He suggested that in addition to installing solar panels to provide green and clean energy, roofs should be made functional for growing vegetation and vegetables. According to him, the structures should be created with features that make them accessible to those with disabilities.

According to him, public sector development and building projects significantly boost economic activity and pump cash into the economy, both supporting industry development and creating jobs for citizens. He cited the Mughal empire and Sher Shah Suri as examples of rulers who used public funds to create roads, structures, monuments, and other public places, considerably enhancing the income of the people of the Indo-Pak subcontinent.

President Alvi said, the practice of saving money by purchasing land and buildings prevents them from being used for further trade, investment, and business, and it also slows down the country's economic and financial activity. According to him, homes and structures should be built with the overarching goal of providing adequate and affordable housing for all societal segments, including the underprivileged and the impoverished.

He said, it is important to monitor and prevent the use of black money for real estate purchases, investments in the construction industry, and other financial transactions. Systems should also be reinforced to make it illegal to create black money in the first place. The fact that over $13 billion in Pakistani wealth had been banned and put into virtual money, according to him, was startling and depriving the economy of much-needed liquidity.

He stated that while amnesty programmes are frequently announced in Pakistan to bring black money into the formal economy, effective systems should be developed to tax the wealthy and bring the entire informal economy into the formal economy, which would aid in overcoming the country's financial and economic challenges.

The president stated that although Pakistan's weather patterns were unpredictable, the country nevertheless got enough water through the weather system, which needed to be conserved and used effectively. He suggested that all structures be made to collect and store rainfall to refuel aquifers. In order to safeguard mangroves and stop the sea from encroaching into the land, he stated that only a small amount of water should be permitted to be dumped into the sea; the remainder should be used effectively.

Additionally, he emphasised the requirement for the construction of water purification and sewage treatment facilities in every industry to stop the release of hazardous chemicals, pollutants, and waste into the sea, which was harming marine life. The president said that there was a practice in Pakistan to first construct illegally on state property, encroach upon it, and then use different tactics to get it regularised. He added that in order to halt these unauthorised constructions, this phenomenon has to be discouraged.

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk