Gul Bahao

Into the 21st century with new ideas from Gul Bahao

Gul Bahao’s research center visted by Nazims and Naib Nazims of Sindh

Gul Bahao in a statement has reported that a delegation of about thirty Nazims and Naib Nazims from all over Sindh visited its head office in Gulshan-e-Iqbal. They included people from Shikarpur, Hyderabad, Jacobabad, Tharparkar, Khairpurmirs, Jamshoro, Nausheroferoz, Badin, Dadu and Larkana.The delegation was lead by Mr Allahudin Mashori under the auspices of MTRI Pakistan (Municipal Training and Research Institute located in Clifton).

The participants were first taken on a round of the Gul Bahao camp which included the garbage collection point which is slowly being developed into what is being called the Safai Kamai bank. There after the participants were ushered into a room called Chandi Ghar, an innovation of Gul Bahao. This was used by Nargis Latif for her hour long talk. Nargis said that many people had visited Gul Bahao’s premises in the past. Among these included:

  1. German Counselor, Mr Detlef Quester.
  2. Mrs Almithra Patel from the supreme court of India.
  3. A twenty five member delegation from Quetta.
  4. Students of Architecture from Daud and N.E.D University.
  5. B.B.C, Zee T.V,Star Plus and several local channels like Aaj T.V, Indus T.V,P.T.V, Sindh T.V, ARY Digital.
  6. WWF and representatives of several other N.G.O’s

Nargis Latif told the participants that Gul Bahao is planning for the establishment of a Gul Bahao complex which will have three components. One will be the Safai Kamai bank which has been the practical and commercial aspect of Gul Bahao so far and which will be a futuristic version of Kabaris. The second component she said will be a pre-fabricated housing plant called Chandi Ghar. She related to the audience that the Chandi Ghar has been recognized as a construction company by many well known quarters.

The third important component of the complex will be a research center on waste management where all the on going research of Gul Bahao will be conserved and put on record and where research students will have access to the previous and on going projects of Gul Bahao. She said she has approached several philanthropists,bankers and well known personalities of the city of Karachi for her project. She said her campaign revolves around Karachi’s gift to the world. She said that the complex will start a service for disseminating environment intelligence throughout the world.

Nargis Latif told the participants that Gul Bahao’s work has been the linking of the environment with the economy. For several months it carried out a campaign Gold for Garbage and used to give 24 carat gold nuggets in addition to cash to the junk dealer in return for their garbage. This gave an impetus to a whole generation of junk dealers to start dealing with waste material which they previously ignored. This has also given an impetus to the local industry as more an more raw material is being made available to it which was previously being thrown into the Kachra Kundis.

Nargis Latif said that her organization has gone through several ups and downs. At its peak which has being about three times she said that between seventy to eighty people were working and up to a dozen vehicles were going to different parts of the city.

The managing trustee of Gul Bahao said that her organization not only conducts research but it also undertakes advocacy campaigns. She told them that Gul Bahao is now trying to advocate the use of industrial effluents for use in aforestation. She said that we cannot bring a clash between industrialization and the environment by going for one or the other. No doubt she said it is good to advocate environment friendly industry related to simple technology. However one should try to use recycling as a tool for minimizing the dangers accruing from large scale industry. She said that plantations should be grown along the drains carrying factory effluents. These will act as suction pumps. On the other hand the wood of these trees may be regularly cut down and sold for furniture, building purposes or even for fuel. The participants highly appreciated Nargis’s lecture and the leader of the delegation invited her to visit the federal ministry’s institute for local bodies.

Chandi Ghar braves the storm

In yet another vindication of Gul Bahao’s research program it was reported by Mohammad Ali Shah, Chairman of Fisher folk Forum that the Chandi Ghar put up by Gul Baho at Ibrahim Hyderi a couple of months ago has stood up to the devastating cyclone hitting the coast and is as good as it was first made. The accompanying photograph shows the Chandi Ghar put up on the roof of the Sachal Hall located in Ibrahim Hyderi.

While several of these pre-fabricated structures were sent to Mansehra at the time of the earthquake, the one at Ibrahim Hyderi is the first one to have been sold to any party in Karachi. This is not to say that the Chandi Ghar is totally new to Karachi, thousands if not lacs of people have seen or read about it through the media as well as live in exhibitions held at the following:

  1. SITE Stadium
  2. Twice at Expo Centre
  3. On the Super Highway
  4. Regent Plaza

as well as PCSIR exhibitions, as well as under the NIPA bridge in Gulshan-e-Iqbal. What is the Chandi Ghar? The brochure describing it says it is made up of used but clean plastic waste like shopping bags to form what is called Wastic Blocks, an alternative to concrete blocks. The second and more easily available component of the pre-fabricated structure is the Pana-flex Panel, again this uses used flexed material and cardboard. Depending on the workmanship this pre-fabricated house is strong against storms, water, insects, fire etc. It is insulated against extreme temperatures, it is easy to put up, taking only a few hours and easy to dismantle and extremely cost effective. The room shown in the photograph costs as little as rupees 15,000, above all it is extremely good looking so that this innovation may be equally attractive to both the rich and the poor

Recently Nargis Latif approached the director TDAP (formerly Export Promotion Bureau) Mr Nusrat Iqbal Jamshed and was able to convince him of the importance of the Chandi Ghar in the local industry. In her written proposal Nargis Latif spelled out the advantages of this new technology which gives it an edge over other building materials and can be used in the following

  1. For relief work (earthquakes,tsunami and other natural disasters)
  2. During Hajj, there is a huge potential for temporary houses
  3. For military purposes, in war games or real life battles, temporary shelter for guards and police men
  4. For mining companies/ oil drilling companies
  5. For medical camps
  6. Tourism industry on the coast as well as in the mountainous areas
  7. For research work carried out over inhospitable terrain
  8. For camps in big cities on Prime land to be used as election camp, mobile schools, advertising purposes etc
  9. The blocks are modular so they can be used alternatively as beds, swimming pools or as water tanks

Being highly impressed by Nargis Latif’s presentation, Mr Jamshed asked her to have the Chandi Ghar patented as this would ensure that is became the intellectual property of Gul Bahao. To which Nargis replied that she would rather that the credit should go to the people of Karachi who have put in their labor, money and moral support. In fact she said that Gul Bahao has a number of other innovations to its credit which all lumped together are called Karachi’s Gift to The World

In the meantime, Gul Bahao has planned to gear up its work and start the world’s first Chandi Ghar Plant in Gulshan-e-Iqbal. It has at the same time appealed to the people to make the plant a success by giving interest free loans or funds.

Paaki Paani explained at PMA

Yesterday Gul Bahao’s Nargis Latif spoke at a gathering organized by the Gastroenterology Association and the Pakistan Medical Association at the P.M.A house. The gathering consisted mostly of medical students and laymen. Nargis observed that this meeting is being held on the eve of the World Environment day for which Gul Bahao has a special message.

She began by saying that there is lot of hue and cry being raised at the spread of infectious diseases but little effort to find solutions. She however commended the Vice Chancellor of the Dow University of Health sciences who declared at a recent conference that “Diseases which spread through the consumption of contaminated water can be controlled by exposing water to the sun.”

Nargis said that eight years ago she was trying to find out the cure for diarrhea and other waterborne diseases using this very same principle. The challenge before her was what kind of water container to use as conventional containers like the earthenware pot, the cooler, metal utensils etc are opaque so that sunlight cannot pass through them and if their lids are removed contamination in the surroundings would freely enter the vessel. No doubt glass bottles with their corks on were available but with house holds with children, using them would be very inconvenient, she thought.

Gul Bahao’s managing trustee said that the best solution she discovered was the transparent plastic water bottle for purifying water. She said she fills these bottles up with tap water and then puts them in the sunlight for a few hours and drinks the water after cooling it. She called it Paaki Paani, meaning pure water. The advantage of the methodology is its superiority to boiling water. In this case unlike boiling water, Paaki Paani retains its mineral content while the germs are killed. After using this water, Nargis said that she who used to be patient of diarrhea was completely cured.

Later on, as part of Gul Bahao’s campaign her organization took it upon itself to spread the idea. Several people have reported good results after drinking Paaki Paani. These include individuals suffering from diarrhea; People journeying by road; little children who had to be hospitalized for dehydration and people living in “kutchi abadis”.

Someone in the audience asked what is the scientific rationale behind this technique and why no one had thought about it earlier on. To this Nargis replied that it is the ultra violet rays from the sun which are germicidal. I.e. it kills all kinds of bacteria and viruses thus making the water fit for consumption.

To the second question Nargis replied that sunshine is not available in abundance everywhere. This is the reason that people in the west have to produce ultraviolet rays of the sun artificially in their water purifying systems. We in the east and especially in Pakistan are fortunate to have plenty of sunshine of long duration most of the year. Hence Paaki Paani is a very useful method of water purification. The managing trustee of Gul Bahao appealed to the audience to propagate the idea of Paaki Paani as this will get rid of more than half the diseases our people especially our children are suffering from. She said that this is one big way of earning “sawab”.

In another statement on the occasion of environment day Nargis Latif has appealed to the Pakistan media to take up the issue of Paaki Paani. Clean water is one of the biggest health issues in Pakistan and this simple technique provides an excellent solution. Moreover Gul Bahao has for the last thirteen years being working on different aspects of the environment and has come up with systems and products, which provide answers to several problems. Research is the key to our problems and by the grace of God Gul Bahao has spent more than six crore rupees in its research program. Only in 2002 its expenditure was around 1 crore and 20 lacs. Despite the spending the innovations are very simple and cheap. These include “Safai/Kamai bank”, “City Farms”, “Instant Compost”, “Chandi Ghar” and “Fuel Pack” and the list keeps on increasing.

Gul Bahao’s CEO gives interview to ARY One World Channel

Gul Bahao’s research work on water purification called Paki Paani has been vindicated said Nargis Latif in an interview she gave on “Ba Khabar Sawera” ARY One World Channel. She said that the Vice Chancellor of the Dow University of Health Sciences at a press conference held recently said that “Diseases which spread through consumption of contaminated water can be controlled by exposing water to the Sun.”

This methodology Nargis Latif said was named Paaki Paani by Gul Bahao in the year 2007 and ever since it has been advocating this through pamphlets, through the media, lectures, exhibitions and through word of mouth. Picking up a mineral water bottle filled with water she said this should be put out in the sun for a few hours cooled, and then drunk. This way ultraviolet rays of the sun will pass through the water and kill the germs while keeping the minerals intact. Now Nargis said poor people will be having free access to mineral water. She said she is trying to persuade a manufacturer of P.E.T bottles to increase their manufacture so that the 16 crore people of Pakistan can make their own germ free mineral water.

The head of Gul Bahao giving a detailed description of the different innovations of Gul Bahao said that the latest one, the “Fuel Pack” has the potential of solving the city’s electricity problem. Pointing to a simple sketch she had before her she described how “Fuel Pack” could be used for producing steam in boilers which could be connected to turbines which again would be connected to generators to produce electricity. The advantage of the “Fuel Pack”, a form of thermal energy Nargis said was their easy availability and cost effectiveness as they are made from industrial waste. These “Fuel Packs” she said have a high burning quality minus toxic fumes.

In the detailed program lasting 40 minutes the head of Gul Bahao also talked about the Chandi Ghar and the Mobile Toilet. This again she said was a unique innovation. Talking about mobile toilet she said it has:

  • Complete privacy
  • Cleanliness unlike the public toilets
  • Sheer convenience – it is foldable

It is simply a Frigidaire box covered inside and outside with Panaflex. Its underlying principle is that human filth is food for plants and trees and hence it is best that people relieve themselves in unpaved land so that there is fewer burdens on the sewage system.

Nargis Latif said that her innovations are devised to revive the economy of the city. These include the Safai/Kamai bank and the Chandi Ghar or alternative housing

The compere of the program asked Nargis Latif why her innovations are not known to the people. “Is the media to blame?” She asked. To this Nargis Latif replied that the trend is to show negative things happening in the society but that is not news because that is what is happening all the time. Real news she said is to extricate the good and the positive even if it is small or far away.

Gul Bahao’s seminar at Avari Hotel advocates innovations in the field of environment

Yesterday, Gul Bahao held a meeting at the hotel Avari to bring together people from various organizations to help strengthen its campaign of “Karachi’s Gift to the world” which is in fact advocating Gul Bahao’s research work consisting of environment related innovations. Prominent among those who attended were Rezwana Khan from NGORC

Ali Chaudry a businessman, Mr. Shamsul Haq Memon , a senior Bureaucrat and former Director General EPA Sindh, Sabiha Shah and Abdul Rahim Moosavi from Lyari Community Development and Nuzhat Siddiqui, environmentalist from WWF, Rana Asif Habib from Initiator Human Development Foundation and Mohammad Khalid from the SDSSP, government of Sindh.

The meeting started with the reading of the Urdu translation of the holy Quran, copies of which had been distributed before hand among the participants. Someone remarked that this is how the Christians used to read from the bible. To this another participant remarked that this could be the reason behind the European renaissance i.e. reading their holy scriptures in their own languages.

Explaining the purpose of holding the meeting, Gul Bahao’s Nargis Latif said that a think tank or discussion forum is necessary to discuss the crucial link between environment and the economy. Some of the stance of the participants however was that there were already several forums working in the city.

Mr. Shamsul Haq Memon said that he has been following Nargis Latif’s work for the last 10 years or so. “I have seen her working tirelessly, often with her hair all disheveled.” Now it is up to us to carry her mission forward … There is a big gap in research oriented activities. Nargis has tried to fill that gap.

Ali Chaudry dwelt at length on his proposal for raising funds for Gul Bahao through marketing of its prefabricated structures. According to him such philanthropists should be sought who could buy Gul Bahao’s prefabricated houses for as little as Rs. 10,000 (ten thousand) and donate them to the poor. However he said that our poor people are very conservative in their habits and special efforts would have to be made for them to adapt themselves to this new technology.

Nargis Latif said that there is a yawning gap between the formal and informal sectors of the economy just as there is a huge gap between the rich and the poor. Citing examples of Godhra in new Karachi and Machar Colony (near Sohrab Goth) she said that these reflect the innovation and dynamism of the informal economy. (However scavenging of waste material from the garbage dumps is not the answer to our solid waste management) On the other we have the formal sector with its educated people, local bodies, government and NGOs who are literate have modern equipment etc. have resources and more important have a system to follow. Unfortunately there is a wide gap between the two sectors that could otherwise benefit one another immensely and the society in general. It was decided by all that the forum would meet once a month.