After surfing on different website I realized that God has given us the treasures and our country is small in size compare to others yet it is very gifted with natural resources or rather call it “The Treasures”. Allamdulliah We are blessed with many things we have Mountains, Seas, river , fertile land and everything that is needed to make country grow.

There were certain things which really caught my eyes and I was amazed to and thought why media never highlight these things, these things will give us the new hope. So I decided to highlight these really interesting things on my blog.

Salt mines

The first thing that I came across was the salt mines; I was really amazed to know that the world largest coal mine was discovered in Pakistan. We are the only country for having the salt mines with proven reserves of about 10 billion ton in three mines including more than 6.687 billion ton only in the Khewra rocky salt mine, located in the area of district Jhelum. Other two salt mines are Warcha and Kalabagh. The salt mined in khewra is the best, finest and in natural state in the world. It is also belived that salt has been mined in Khewra before the Alxender the great invaded the area.

According to one report the annual production of salt at khewra is about 300,000 tonnes, which is enough to last for 400 years to come.

The other salt mines are wercha which is located 276 km from the Islamabad. The salt appears to be in broken and irregular salt domes . and Kalabagh Salt Mines are located on the bank of the Indus River. Salt is excavated by Room and Pillar method. Some of the chambers are more than 80 meters deep where the salt is still mined manually. There are 13 different kinds of salt seams with different shades of color

We also import around 10-18 thousand tones of salt annually to India only.

Khewra Salt Mines has 1290 meters long tunnels. The mine is anopen challenge to an adventurous spirit. It has 17 levels and there are 50 feet of rock salt between each level in which there are veryl arge chambers, made when salt was extracted.

Coal Reserve

The other treasure which I discovered was coal. We have the 7^th largest coal reserves. The coal can be used in many thing most importantly it can help in creating the electricity which is the most common cry on the public. Its been estimated that thar 185 billion reserve can produce 10,00MW for 300 years

Our coal reserves are estimated at 175 billion tons which according to the Vice-Chancellor (VC) of Punjab University, Professor Dr Mujahid Kamran equal 618 billion barrels of crude oil. According to the most reliable analytical reports Saudi Arabian crude oil reserves are estimated at around 260 billion barrels. At 60 Dollars per barrel this equates to 3708 Billion Dollars or approx. 4 Trillion Dollars (at current prices). At future prices these reserves will be worth 8 or 24 Trillion Dollars. This is enough money to build the most modern infrastructure, the best roads, the best hospitals, the best education, the best universities, the best hi-speed rail system and the best public transportation system on the planet

In Balochistan there are still many coal reserve which are yet to be discovered, I will not go into the detail of coal reserve as my project mate Sidra Pasha has already written an article on this topic, you can refer to her blog for more details

Balochistan

Balochistan, is the least developed province of the Pakistan yet its full of treasure, tochief mister Nawab Mohammed Aslam, Balochistan is vital for Pakistan economic growth. Its seems like Allah has showered extra blessing on Balochistan, there we can find graphite sulphur , gas, coal graphite, gold and only God knows what is more there as still the large part of the province is undiscovered.

The sui has field is the biggest natural gas field im Pakistan. The gas field was discovered in 1955. Sui gas accounts for 26 percent of Pakistan gas production. Its is belived that there are many gas field in Balochistan which is yet to be discovered.

Aluminium minerals are also found in balochistan. aterite occurrences have been reported from Ziarat area of Balochistan. Zones of high aluminium concentration are suspected in these laterites which needs detailed geochemical investigations. In Jamaica high grade bauxite deposits are hosted in White Limestone Formation of Middle Eocene-Lower Miocene age. Many sinkholes have developed in this karst topographic country that hosts thickest bauxite occurs. Here the ore contains 48 to 50 percent alumina with 18 to 20 percent iron oxide and the reserves are estimated at several hundred million metric tons. Fairly good chances of presence of bauxite in similar limestone terrain in Lasbela-Khuzdar-Kalat-Quetta-Zhob mountain belt are predictable. Large sinkholes and caves developed in limestone exist, particularly in Bolan district of Balochistan. These and other sinkhole areas occurring at many places may be specifically explored for bauxite.

The graphite and zinc are also found in dilband, they have called Chinese official to dig it, according to ministry of minerals they according to the sources of Minerals Ministry, the mining of the said minerals on trial basis is underway in the area and it is hoped that the production of the minerals will be kicked off within a few months to come. It is estimated that 1 million tonnes of Zinc and 32,000 tonnes of Graphite will be dug out on annual basis

Copper and gold reserve were recently discovered in Balochistan`s Rekodiq and will contribute 1.25m to the economy. The Rekodiq project is estimated to produce 200,000 tons of copper and 400,000 ounces of gold per year, at an estimated value of $1.25 billion at current market prices. The copper and gold are currently traded at about $5,000 per ton and $600 per ounce respectively in the international market. This discovery has put Rekodiq in top 7 copper reserve of the world.

Agriculture

Agriculture has always been Pakistan’s biggest tool, We have been blessed with very fertile land, we have the 2^nd best irrigation system in the world. Our Cotton wheat are rated among the best in the world. If we manage it carefully and effectively we will be able to get great revenue.

Workforce:

We are the treasure too, we have seen people going abroad and making the name of Pakistan. The brain of ours will help us improving the country and we are the biggest treasure. Everyone is blessed with some skills which he can use to betterment for the country. So all the bloggers should identify their true skills on how they can help Pakistan achieving the great height. All the things I have discussed will be useless if we don’t utilize ourselves properly

We need to work hard to get the treasure out; even pirates travel day and night in their ships, follow the direction of the maps and face the hardship on their way to get the treasure. They have the commitment will and unity to achieve the treasure. So why can’t we have that determination.. The blame game has to get over now or it will get too late.

Written By: Faiz-Ul Haq

Many wars have been fought on the battlefield, many in the mighty oceans but there have been very few that were fought diligently with Mother Nature. The making of Karakoram Highway was a war itself which took nearly 20 years for completion taking 810 Pakistani and 82 Chinese workers, dedicating their lives for an unimaginable path envisioned by the leaders of the respective countries to build the ‘Eight Wonder of the World’.

Karakoram Highway (KKH), also known as the Friendship Highway was constructed on the Pakistani side by the Frontiers Works Organization employing Pakistan Army Corps and Engineers as well.

The legend of the KKH is long and spectacular. Everybody has heard of the legendary Silk Road. As the legend goes, it was the road where silk was transported from China to Europe. There was not just one Silk Road. In fact, there were many. The Karakoram Highway, as we know the road nowadays was one of those Silk Roads, runs approximately 1,300 km from Kashgar, a city in the Xinjiang region of China, to Havelian, located in the Abbottabad District of Pakistan. An extension of the highway meets the Grand Trunk Road at Hasan Abdal, west of Islamabad, Pakistan. It was always a hard and unsafe road. And even today, it's still a tough track.

The souls that paved the way for the Karakoram Highway due to an unpredictable topography still seem to flicker amongst the sharp moving shadows of the rocks and the almost countless but crumbly glaciers embellish its existence. There has always been a long pass into, and out of China over what is sometimes called the 'roof of the world' but in ancient times it was a very unsafe pathway.

Starting near Rawalpindi, the bitumen sealed motorway winds through gently rolling, sandy foothills for approximately one hundred and twenty kilometers before intersecting the Indus River. It then twists along the Indus eastward to within forty kilometers of the town of Gilgit.

Between these two points, the road sometimes takes on a 'roller-coaster' feature as it dips into, and out of the Indus's wide river bed. The final dip is at this forty kilometers point when the road joins the Gilgit River and continues to within twelve kilometers of the town of that name, then turns north, crossing the Gilgit River to join the Hunza River. The town of Gilgit is twelve kilometers off the actual Karakoram highway and is reached by a fairly smoothly laid and slightly inclined tarred road.

Although the Karakoram Highway inclines upwards the whole way to the pass it's not until you get close to Gilgit that you begin to feel as if you are in mountains. Even so, the town is only at one thousand, five hundred meters (approx. five thousand feet) elevation and there is still a feeling of being in desert. The barren, dust laden and tan colored hills that surround the area give the impression of being made from sand, however, it only takes a ride of a couple of kilometers north from Gilgit for one to get the impression of being in 'real' mountains - very high, and very sheer mountains.

This is not to say that the actual road itself is steep - it's not. It's just that the demarcation between the almost sand dune like foothills, and the seemingly abrupt line of six to eight thousand meters high glacier and snow plaited mountains is almost overpoweringly awesome.

The road then accompanies the Hunza River through these mountains, climbing gently almost all the way to the 4,700 meter high Khunjerab Pass. At the top of the pass, two tall memorial stones show that dividing line between political Pakistan, and political China. Both countries’ respective customs and immigration posts are some kilometers away on their respective sides of the pass. Sust, the Pakistan customs post located before the peak and the Chinese customs post at Taxgorgan is established.

The pass also separates two differently named mountain ranges, the Karakoram Range (on the Pakistani side), from the Pamir in China. Within these two massive ranges, there are other named but smaller clusters of rugged mountains and a quick glance at a map can confuse one as there is no illustrated way that one can separate one range from the next.

On the Chinese side of the pass the road is given a different name by the Chinese, who call it, loosely translated, 'The Big Pakistan/China Friendship Road'. This continuation of the Karakoram is also smoothly finished and well graded. It scrolls up and down through generally wide valleys for approximately four hundred and fifty kilometers to the camel market town of Kashgar, which is in the mostly Taklamakan desert filled Chinese province of Xinjiang.

As most travelers consider the Karakoram highway and the Big Pakistan-China Friendship Road to be one and the same. All Chinese roads have designated route numbers and periodic 'kilometer' markers tell you what numbered road, or track you are on at any given time, for example, the Chinese side of the Karakoram road is route number 314, and you can stay on this route half way across China.

The actual kilometer numbers on the stones don't seem to make any sense, and they certainly did not usually reflect accuracy as compared to both of our cyclometers, which always came out to within a hundred or so meters of each another at the end of every day. The numbers on the stones often showed a ten or fifteen kilometer difference to our daily total.

Nevertheless it is a great achievement by both Countries for completing such an arduous job collectively. It is by far the greatest endeavor by the people of Pakistan and China. The Karakoram Highway holds great Strategic importance and has enhanced trading ties with China. The effort, resources and determination not only brought us the gifts of commerce but a long lasting friendship with China.

‘Long live Pakistan and China as neighbors as friends.’

Written By: Obaid Patel

Amrika ( America), ke na Japan ke, Hum tou hain diwanay Multan ke ( Neither America nor Japan, we are in love with Multan) – Sanwali Saloni, Vital Signs.

As the great man (Junaid Jamshed) once said, before he went ‘extreme’ that is, America and Japan is all right but its Multan where it’s at. The epitome of this nationalist notion, while commendable for its noble intent, is mind boggling. The simplest reason for that is the insurmountable diversity that exists in our society.

Calling pre-partition Hind a melting pot of ethnic and cultural diversity would be an understatement; perhaps it would be much more prudent to compare it with a dormant volcano. With a multitude of languages, cultures, geographic regions, lifestyles and religions, it is no surprise that it was called the Sub-continent. Naturally Pakistan since birth has inherited some of that legacy and is an integration of some or more of those elements.

Balochistan possesses a variety of minerals, undiscovered oil and large natural gas reserves. Sindh is home to Karachi, the most business friendly city in Pakistan and perhaps the economic hub of our nation. Punjab has arguably the best arable land in Asia and is the bread basket of Pakistan, whereas N.W.F.P has a fantastic mountainous terrain and large water reserves. In short, all the provinces have their own importance and unique identity.

Pakistan’s geographic diversity would prove to be a discoverer’s paradise. Going north from the coastal areas of the Arabian Sea, towards the Karakoram Range, one would see a profound blend of plains and deserts, forests and hills, plateaus and mountains. Our wonderful geographic location also provides us with a smooth coastline, which is approximately 1046km long and kisses the Arabian Sea. In addition to providing us with a natural sea trade route, it also has unique marine life. These calm waters can be developed into an Asian hub of water sports and beach activities.

Our nation not only has a naturally diverse terrain but also a very colorful mix of language, culture and lifestyles. With nearly 70 major and minor languages and around 13 ethnic groups, the land of the pure surely inculcates many diverse identities in its soil. These Pakistani cultures have been greatly influenced by many of the surrounding countries' cultures, such as the Turkish, Persian, Afghan, and Indians of South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East.

With such imbalance, understanding every culture becomes imperative. What might be acceptable or even encouraged in one ethnic group, might be severely looked down upon in others. For example, music is despised in certain areas of the NWFP but acceptable and enjoyed in other parts of Pakistan.

The question that now arises however is, whether Pakistan for all its diversity, has that one uniting factor that overlooks all other differences. What is it that that keeps us together and helps us maintain our cohesion? Is it language or religion? Is it culture or years of close existence?

Pakistan is a gifted country and can overcome grave disorders if and only if, correct policies are made and implemented and all Pakistani’s accept the idea of celebrating differences with open arms. The only solution that can work in uniting the vulnerable and often explosive population is extreme nationalist fervor and spirit. How can it be brought about when only 8% of the population actually speaks in Urdu and the rest speak in their regional languages.

Urdu cannot be expected to unite, when all our politicians encourage voters to elect them on the basis of language. This is only going to sub-divide our already culturally confused country even more. Also the creation of any other province in Pakistan, will only add fuel to this ethnic nationalist fire.

If the argument that all Pakistani’s are one because of our shared religion is valid, then the partition of East Pakistan would never have happened. What indeed holds true is that there existed huge cultural and administrative clashes between the two wings which resulted in bad blood. Critics of the two nation theory hold this partition against it, which nullifies the very basis upon which Pakistan was built.

The only way for Pakistan to move forward is to increase education and spiritual enlightenment amongst the masses. The end result or objective should be to harness the seeds of tolerance and patience in our masses. Tolerance is a virtue, which makes co-existence of human beings easier and less violent. This educational reawakening will set the foundations for nationwide patriotism triggering much better interprovincial relations as diversity will be celebrated in favor of national interest.

Sir Syed Ahmed Khan was adamant upon the need for Muslims in Hind to get educated. Even analyzing all developed countries’ today, would show us high literacy rates because it is a natural prerequisite for any society aspiring to develop and prosper.

All of Pakistan’s resources and natural endowments will remain unexploited, if the nation does not on a whole want to reorganize and create a better image of Pakistan on the world map. The Pakistani people are non-violent, moderate and humble except for a few elements, which seem hell bent upon not letting us show the positive side of us.

Conclusively it should be noted that extensive long term investments and sacrifices have to be made by the current government and our generation, so that our following generations can shine and build a Pakistan where the cliché, Pakistan has resources but poor management ceases to exist. Celebrate life, celebrate diversity!