Pakistan and China are developing a satellite to monitor the routes of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). The space technology has produced massive changes in every field of life and it is contributing in many sectors including defense, communication and medicines, said the provincial transport minister, Syed Nasir Hussain Shah, on Saturday.

“Our ministry is using space technology to monitor the road system and the port management as well,” he said while addressing at the inaugural session of the fourth national conference on space, science and technology. The conference was organised by the Institute of Space and Planetary Astrophysics (ISPA), University of Karachi at Arts Auditorium KU.

Professor Dr Jamil Hasan Kazmi, from the Department of Geography, KU, said that 51 percent area of Karachi was composed of hills and as a result the two-third of the city was still not inhabited.

He said the space science had done wonders in many sectors of life.

“Citizens suffered heat stroke last year due to inefficient material usage in the construction of high-rise buildings of the city. Karachi has become a heat island. Difference of temperature reaches up to five degrees from Malir to Defense or Clifton.”

Professor Dr Shahid Qureshi, ISPA, KU, said that pre-calculated lunar calendars were in use for centuries by Jews and Hindus. However, he mentioned, Muslims were sceptical of using such pre-calculated lunar calendars.

Faculty members of the geography department, Professor Dr Jamil Kazmi, Dr Salman Zubair and Dr Lubna Ghazal, presented their research papers in which they stated that 65 percent of schools in Karachi were located at inappropriate locations, posing threat of accidents to students.

They expressed that these schools, situated near fast-moving roads, were at the highest risk. They suggested incorporating road safety measures and geographic information system techniques while making decisions for the location of schools to reducing the risk of accidents and loss of valuable lives of school-going children in the city.

Faculty members of the Punjab University and Institute of Space Technology, Islamabad, Iqra Basit, Khalid Mahmood, Rida Hafiza Qimrah and Samrah Rubab, presented their research paper and lamented upon the fact that modern living style, urbanisation, pollutants from industries, inappropriate sewerage system were diminishing the quality of drinking water resources.

ISPA Director M Javed Iqbal and faculty member Syed Faisalur Rehman in their research paper said that galaxy surveys provided some of the most important clues in understanding dark energy, especially in combination with cosmic microwave background surveys.

Badar Munir Khan Ghauri from the Institute of Space Technology Karachi presented his paper on climate change and droughts in the country. He said Pakistan was among of those countries which were severely hit by the climate change in recent years. He claimed that this had led to short and long term of droughts.

“Satellite data can significantly contribute to monitoring drought. It has been noticed that the dry weather moved towards northeast from southwest of Sindh during last few decades.”