Around 500 energy-efficient cooking stoves were distributed among deserving families in the Chawan forest area of the Karore valley, around 40 kilometres from the federal capital. Later, she distributed some 100 stoves amongst the poor and deserving households from Kallar Syedan and Kahuta forest areas of Rawalpindi under the UN Development Programme’s Sustainable Forest Management Project and Global Environmental Facility. Wazir said that the energy-efficient stoves have been proven to burn around 50% less firewood and help mitigate indoor air pollution and related health hazards. Climate Change Secretary Naheed Durrani that the new energy-efficient stoves will help transform the environment and lives of forest communities. However, the energy-saving stoves burn far less firewood and generate more accumulated heat for faster cooking, saving around 5,011 to 5,846 metric tonnes of firewood annually.

Source: The Express Tribune November 20, 2020 05:52 UTC