Dear Sir,

Almost every e-mail we receive contains a footnote exhorting us: “Think before you print/save paper; save trees”.  But still we print.  

We waste paper with absolute ease. Most of us serenely talk about saving the planet for the future generation and even sometimes implement programmes to save paper, water and other resources. But these often lack consistency and determination. We have to stick firmly to our pronouncements of saving our natural recourses.  

Most of us save money, right? Do we ever forget or ignore to deposit funds into our savings account every month? Of course not, unless some extra expenses crop up suddenly. Why do we not show the same concern when it comes to wastage of natural resources?

We take things for granted and think that no matter how much paper we waste and trees chopped in the process, someone is planting more trees on the other end for us to fill our copier and printer trays.  Same goes with water or electricity wastage as well.

We waste more paper at our workplace than at our home. Why? We all know the answer.  Just in case if you don’t know the answer: it is FREE at our workplace. We all do our personal printing, copying, etc from our offices, not from home!  

Printing project work for children, copying textbooks to save money from purchasing a new one, we take the “job” to the office. We testprint personal or official drafts, for reading and editing. Hundreds of unclaimed prints on the printer are eventually chucked out at the end of the day.

For draft printouts, it is wise to reuse papers. Most of the write-ups, procedures, etc could be burned on to a CD for reviewing or editing. Continuous use of recycled products can truly make a difference. Trees are getting sparse day by day and we are solely responsible for this.  Serious decline in trees are critically affecting climate change.  Lack of rain is heating up the planet and weather is no more stable or pleasant.

Many life forms dependent on the tropical rainforests are facing extinction.  How would we feel if someone drives us out of our habitat?  So just try to imagine ourselves in the shoes of these living things which are losing their natural habitat due to deforestation.  

It is already too late but as the saying goes, it’s better late than never.  

Shaheem Ibrahim Kutty

PO Box 47

Doha

A looming catastrophe

Dear Sir,

The recent earthquakes in Iran are a sober reminder to us that tectonic plates in the area are slowly grinding to a deadly climax.

Across the globe, the earth’s crust is inching towards a seismic catastrophe. A mega earthquake is likely to strike the Himalayas this century, causing  landslides and floods and could kill tens of thousands of people. The fault separates Asian and Indian continental plates. This rupture could cause an earthquake of magnitude 8 or more.

The scenario of a major earthquake in the Middle East is a certainty rather than a possibility. Fault lines in this strategic area are now active including the Dead Sea fault line zone stretching form the Gulf of Aqaba up to Turkey. The GCC areas are in the same danger area as North America, Iran, Turkey, Greece and Italy.

The Bushehr reactor is in an earthquake zone at the juncture of three tectonic plates, but is designed to withstand a quake of magnitude 8. Some experts estimate as many as 700,000 residents of Tehran could die if a major quake struck the city. The city was hit by a magnitude 7 earthquake in 1830. The area is perched on active geological faults.

In 551 CE, Beirut was struck by a major quake which triggered a tsunami and levelled the town. Should a major quake strike Istanbul, the death toll could exceed 500,000. Sooner or later major cities perched on volatile tectonic plates, will rupture causing havoc.

Farouk Araie

farouk.araie@telkomsa.net