JACOBABAD: In Pakistan’s hottest city, fresh and filtered water can quench the searing onslaught of climate change — but US President Donald Trump’s foreign aid freeze threatens its vital supply, an NGO says.
Sun-parched Jacobabad city in southern Sindh province sometimes surpasses 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit) in increasing heatwaves causing critical health problems like dehydration and heat-stroke.
In 2012, USAID committed a $66 million grant to uplift Sindh’s municipal services, including the flagship renovation of a plant pumping and purifying water from a canal 22 kilometers (14 miles) away.
But Pakistani non-profit HANDS says Trump’s aid embargo has blocked $1.5 million earmarked to make the scheme viable in the long-term, putting the project at risk “within a few months.”
“This has transformed our lives,” 25-year-old Tufail Ahmed told AFP in Jacobabad, where wintertime temperatures are already forecast to pass 30C next week.
“If the water supply is cut off it will be very difficult for us,” he added. “Survival will be challenging, as water is the most essential thing for life.”
Between September and mid-January Sindh saw rainfall 52 percent below average according to the Pakistan Meteorological Department, with “moderate drought” predicted in the coming months.
Heatwaves are becoming hotter, longer and more frequent due to climate change, scientists say.
The project pipes in 1.5 million gallons (5.7 million liters) daily and serves about 350,000 people in Jacobabad, HANDS says — a city where grinding poverty is commonplace.
HANDS said it discovered Trump’s 90-day freeze on foreign assistance through media reports with no prior warning.
“Since everything is just suspended we have to withdraw our staff and we have to withdraw all services for this water project,” HANDS CEO Shaikh Tanveer Ahmed told AFP.
Forty-seven staff, including experts who manage the water purification and service the infrastructure, have been sent home.
The service will likely stop functioning “within the next few months,” Ahmed predicted, and the project will be “a total failure” unless another funder steps in.
The scheme is currently in the hands of the local government who lack the technical or revenue collection expertise HANDS was developing to fund the supply from bill payments, rather than donations.
The international aid community has been in a tailspin over Trump’s campaign to downsize or dismantle swathes of the US government — led by his top donor and the world’s richest man Elon Musk.
The most concentrated fire has been on Washington’s aid agency USAID, whose $42.8 billion budget represents 42 percent of humanitarian aid disbursed worldwide.
But it accounts for only between 0.7 and 1.4 percent of total US government spending in the last quarter century, according to the Pew Research Center.
Trump has claimed USAID is “run by radical lunatics” while Musk has described it as a “criminal organization” needing to be put “through the woodchipper.”
In Jacobabad, 47-year-old local social activist Abdul Ghani pleaded for its work to continue.
“If the supply is cut off it will severely affect the public,” he said. “Poverty is widespread here and we cannot afford alternatives.”
Residents complain the Jacobabad supply is patchy but still describe it as an invaluable service in a city where the alternative is buying water from private donkey-drawn tankers.
Eighteen-year-old student Noor Ahmed said before “our women had to walk for hours” to collect water.
HANDS says the private tankers have a monthly cost of up to 10 times more than their rate of 500 rupees ($1.80) and often contain contaminants like arsenic.
“The dirty water we used to buy was harmful to our health and falling ill would cost us even more,” said 55-year-old Sadruddin Lashari.
“This water is clean. The supply cannot be stopped,” he added.
Pakistan — home to more than 240 million people — ranks as the nation most affected by climate change, according to non-profit Germanwatch’s Climate Risk Index released this year and analizing data from 2022.
That year a third of the country was inundated by unprecedented monsoon floods killing more than 1,700 and causing an estimated $14.9 billion in damages after a punishing summer heatwave.
Jacobabad’s water system also suffered heavy damage in the 2010 floods which killed almost 1,800 and affected 21 million.
Pakistan produces less than one percent of global greenhouse gas emissions which scientists say are driving human-made climate change.
Islamabad has consistently called for countries which emit more to contribute to aid for its population suffering on the front line of climate change.
“It’s incredibly hot here year-round,” said Lashari. “We need water constantly.”
Trump aid cut imperils water scheme in Pakistan’s hottest city
https://arab.news/wpzcn
Trump aid cut imperils water scheme in Pakistan’s hottest city
- Sun-parched Jacobabad city in Sindh province sometimes surpasses 50°C in increasing heatwaves causing health problems like dehydration, heat-stroke
- In 2012, USAID committed a $66 million grant to uplift Sindh’s municipal services, including renovation of a plant pumping and purifying water from a canal
On World Press Freedom Day, Pakistan honors journalists killed in Gaza
- Israel’s war on Gaza has killed 232 journalists, an average of 13 per month, making it the deadliest conflict for media workers
- President Asif Ali Zardari says media is indispensable in promoting dialogue, highlighting social, economic and environmental issues
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari on Saturday hailed journalists who lost their lives while reporting in conflict zones like Gaza, saying their dedication continues to inspire others.
The statement came on the World Press Freedom Day on May 3 that aims to raise awareness about the importance of press freedom and remind governments of their duty to respect and uphold the right to freedom of expression enshrined under Article 19 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Israel’s war on Gaza has killed 232 journalists – an average of 13 per month – making it the deadliest conflict for media workers ever recorded, according to a report by the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs’ Costs of War project issued on April 1.
More journalists have been killed in Gaza than in both world wars, the Vietnam War, the wars in Yugoslavia and the United States war in Afghanistan combined. The 18-month Israeli war, which began after the Oct. 2023 attacks on Israel by Hamas, has also killed more than 52,000 Palestinians, laying waste to almost all of Gaza.
“[We] honor the sacrifices made by those who have lost their lives in pursuit of truth, especially reporting in conflict zones like Gaza and Palestine,” President Zardari said in his statement on the day.
“Their courage and dedication continue to inspire us.”
The media is indispensable in promoting dialogue, highlighting issues of social, economic and environmental significance, uncovering corruption and advocating for the marginalized communities, according to the Pakistan president.
Article 19 of the Constitution of Pakistan guarantees the right to freedom of speech and a free press, subject to “certain restrictions.”
Pakistan ranks 152nd out of 180 countries on Reporters Without Borders (RSF) press freedom index, and journalists in the country have long complained of increasing state pressure on traditional media. Social media platform X is officially banned, but accessible using VPNs, while YouTube and TikTok have faced bans in the past.
“We have taken a number of steps for the protection and welfare of journalists, but more needs to be done by providing them a safe, secure, and enabling environment,” Zardari said.
“A culture where journalists feel secure to perform their duties without fear and harassment is the need of the time. I urge the media to uphold the highest standards of journalism, accuracy, and professionalism.”
Pakistan will strike any Indian structure built to divert its water, minister says
- India suspended a key water-sharing treaty with Pakistan after an attack in Indian-administered Kashmir that New Delhi has blamed on Pakistan
- Pakistan has denied involvement in the attack that killed 26 tourists and described India’s suspension of the treaty as an ‘act of war’
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will destroy any structure built by India to divert its share of water under the Indus Waters Treaty, Defense Minister Khawaja Asif said on Friday, amid heightened tensions between the two countries over an attack in the Kashmir region.
India suspended on April 23 the World Bank-mediated Indus Waters Treaty of 1960 that ensures water for 80 percent of Pakistani farms, saying it would last until “Pakistan credibly and irrevocably abjures its support for cross-border terrorism.”
The development came a day after an attack killed 26 tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir’s Pahalgam tourist town. India said two of the three militants who attacked tourists were from Pakistan. Islamabad denied the allegation and said any attempt to stop or divert the flow of Pakistan’s water will be considered an “act of war.”
Speaking to a private news channel on Friday night, Asif said diverting Pakistan’s water was also a “face of aggression” against the country and entire nations could die of thirst and hunger because of it.
“That will be aggression against Pakistan,” he said. “So, even if they made an architectural attempt of this kind, then Pakistan will destroy that structure.”
Pakistan has rights to the western rivers — Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab — for irrigation, drinking, and non-consumptive uses like hydropower, according to the Indus Waters Treaty. India controls the eastern rivers — Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej — for unrestricted use but must not significantly alter their flow. India can use the western rivers for limited purposes such as power generation and irrigation, without storing or diverting large volumes.
Asif’s comments came hours after Pakistan’s top generals blamed the April 22 attack on New Delhi’s “governance failures” and its strategy of using such incidents for political gains, warning Pakistani security forces were ready to respond to any attack on the country’s sovereignty.
Pakistan Army’s top brass gathered at the General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi on Friday to review the geo-strategic environment, with a particular focus on the Pakistan-India standoff and the broader regional security situation, the military’s media wing, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), said.
“The Forum noted, with serious concern, India’s consistent pattern of exploitation of crises to achieve political and military objectives. They have been following a predictable template — whereby internal governance failures are externalized,” the ISPR said.
“These incidents have often coincided with unilateral moves by India to alter the status quo, as seen in 2019 when India similarly exploited the Pulwama incident to unilaterally alter the status quo of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu & Kashmir, through revocation of Article 370,” it added.
The 2019 Pulwama attack killed 40 Indian paramilitary personnel and was also blamed on Pakistan before New Delhi revoked the region’s special constitutional status to integrate it in the Indian union, a move repeatedly condemned by Islamabad.
Tensions have been high in the South Asian region since last week’s attack in Kashmir, a situation exacerbated by retaliatory actions between the two nuclear-armed rivals, including the expulsion of diplomats and citizens, border closures and airspace shutdowns.
Pakistan and India have a history of bitter relations. They have fought two of their three wars over Kashmir, a region split between them, since gaining independence from the former British colonial rule in 1947.
On Friday, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif with envoys from Gulf allies and briefed them on Islamabad’s stance regarding the April 22 attack in Indian-administered Kashmir, seeking to defuse tensions.
The international community has encouraged both sides to exercise restraint and resolve the crisis through dialogue.
Pakistan’s factory PMI dips in early sign of global tariff headwinds
- New orders slumped while export orders in particular plummeted
- Employment fell for a second month as manufacturers cut costs
KARACHI: Pakistan’s manufacturing sector growth slowed to a seven-month low in April, with the HBL Pakistan Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI)easing to 51.9 from 52.7 in March, as concerns over global trade weighed, HBL said in a press release.
The latest dip in the index hints at the impact of US President Donald Trump’s trade tariffs, said Humaira Qamar, Head of Equities & Research at HBL.
“We believe that the latest PMI dips are early signs of the headwinds to the global economy from the introduction of US tariffs,” said Humaira Qamar — Head Equities & Research at HBL.
New orders slumped while export orders in particular plummeted. Employment fell for a second month as firms cut costs, said Qamar.
Qamar warned that any US stagflation would hurt Pakistan’s exports, particularly to the US which accounts for 18 percent of its total, potentially prolonging the manufacturing downturn, though lower commodity prices could provide some relief, she added.
Despite the slowdown, the PMI remains above 50, indicating expansion amid a favorable inflation outlook.
Qamar said she expects an interest rate cut on Monday due to strong deflationary pressures. But a Reuters poll suggests Pakistan’s State Bank will hold rates steady at 12 percent, following a surprise pause in its last meeting due to geopolitical tensions and inflation concerns.
Pakistan’s annual inflation rate fell to 0.3 percent in April, well below the Ministry of Finance estimate of 1.5 percent to 2 percent. The central bank forecasts average inflation to be in the range of 5.5 percent to 7.5 percent for the fiscal year ending June.
Pakistan’s largest bank, HBL, and global financial information and analytics firm S&P Global launched the index In February to track the country’s manufacturing sector.
China’s BYD partners with local firms to launch largest EV charging network in Pakistan
- 128 DC fast chargers will be installed across Pakistan over the next three years
- Pakistan approved EV policy in 2019 with a target of 30 percent electric vehicles by 2030
KARACHI: China’s BYD, the world’s largest New Energy Vehicle (NEV) manufacturer and Pakistan’s Mega Motor Company (MMC) have partnered with Hub Power Company (HUBCO) to launch the country’s largest NEV charging network, the company said on Friday.
NEVs refer to alternative-fuel vehicles that rely on electric, hybrid, hydrogen or other non-traditional power sources instead of conventional gasoline or diesel engines
BYD, a global leader in battery-electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles, has expanded aggressively in Asia, Europe and Latin America. Mega Motor, a subsidiary of Pakistan’s HUBCO, is spearheading the local manufacturing, distribution and sales of BYD-branded vehicles.
“This nation-wide rollout of infrastructure marks one of the most significant developments in the country’s shift toward electric mobility by addressing a critical gap in Pakistan’s EV ecosystem and establishing the most extensive NEV charging network,” BYD said in a statement.
“As part of this strategic and groundbreaking roadmap, HGL will install approximately 128 DC fast chargers across the country over the next three years, with 50 installations planned by December 2025.”
It added that the charging points would be placed every 150-200 kilometers of highways and motorways along with malls, hotels and hospitals.
“Range anxiety remains one of the most significant barriers to NEV adoption across Pakistan,” BYD Pakistan Vice President Sales and Strategy Danish Khaliq said.
“Through this groundbreaking partnership with HUBCO Green, we are not just addressing a logistical issue but shaping the entire mobility landscape of the country.”
BYD and MMC partnered last year to introduce electric vehicles (EVs) in Pakistan, aiming to accelerate the country’s transition toward sustainable mobility.
The government approved the National Electric Vehicles Policy in 2019, setting a target of 30 percent EVs by 2030. In March, Pakistan inaugurated the country’s fastest EV charging station in Islamabad.
Earlier this year, Pakistan announced a 45 percent reduction in power tariffs for electric vehicle charging stations. The government is also planning financing schemes for e-bikes and the conversion of two and three-wheeled petrol vehicles.
According to a report submitted by the power ministry, there are currently more than 30 million two- and three-wheeled vehicles in Pakistan, which consume more than $5 billion worth of petroleum annually.
In January, China’s ADM Group revealed plans to invest $250 million in setting up an electric vehicle manufacturing plant in Pakistan.
Pakistan stocks slide on India tensions, key sectors lose up to 15% after Kashmir attack
- Foreign investors remained net sellers in April, taking their outflows since July to $252 million
- The market recovered some of its losses on Friday but remains volatile heading into next week
KARACHI: Pakistan’s renewed tensions with archrival India have weighed heavily on the country’s stock market, with key sectors like refineries posting losses of up to 15 percent since a gun attack killed 26 tourists in the disputed Kashmir region on April 22, according to analysts and market data on Friday.
India blamed Pakistan for the attack despite Islamabad’s denial and call for a neutral probe. The escalation, which has seen border closures, tit-for-tat diplomatic expulsions and fears of military confrontation between the nuclear-armed neighbors, has drawn international concern.
The KSE-100 Index, Pakistan’s benchmark stock gauge, fell 6 percent over six trading sessions following the attack, according to Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) data.
The market recovered some losses on Friday but remained volatile heading into next week.
“Pakistan’s stock market experienced heightened volatility after the Pahalgam attack,” Sana Tawfik, an economist and head of research at Arif Habib Ltd., told Arab News while referring to the attack in Indian-administered Kashmir.
Between April 22 and April 30, the index dropped 7,104 points or 6 percent, she said.
Key sectors bore the brunt of the sell-off, including refineries (-15.4 percent), transport (-15 percent), pharmaceuticals (-12.9 percent), jute (-11.6 percent) and engineering (-9.2 percent).
“This decline reflects broad investor risk aversion amid geopolitical uncertainty,” she added.
The latest flare-up with India added to pressure on Pakistani equities, which had already been hit by US President Donald Trump’s tariff increases last month. That triggered panic selling and a one-hour trading halt at the PSX.
“Foreigners remained net sellers [in April] as well, taking 10MFY25 net outflow to around $252 million,” JS Global Capital Ltd., the largest broking and investment banking firm in Pakistan, said in a note to clients.
Muhammad Waqas Ghani, its head of research, said investor caution over Pakistan’s escalating tensions with India had driven the recent market volatility.
“The impact of geopolitical concerns is beginning to wear off,” he said.
On Friday, the KSE-100 rebounded 2.5 percent to 114,113 points, trimming overall losses to 3.6 percent. Ghani attributed the recovery to US diplomatic efforts to defuse tensions between the two neighbors.
“The market opened positive today [Friday], gaining 2,900 points or 2.6 percent in the first half,” he said.
Analysts said calls for restraint from the US, United Nations and other members of the International community contributed to Friday’s rally.
US Vice President JD Vance told Fox News in a podcast interview that Washington was working to prevent further escalation and preserve regional peace.
Mohammed Sohail, CEO at Topline Securities Ltd., said stocks bounced back as investors regained confidence amid “signals of easing tensions.”
JS Global said market sentiment could improve further after the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) expected release of funds for Pakistan following its upcoming executive board meeting this month.
“Materialization of planned foreign inflows, likely after IMF disbursement, along with geopolitical stability, remains crucial for the country and equity markets,” it added.
