Groundwater is a precious natural resource that is vital to various aspects of life. Punjab is experiencing groundwater stress due to urbanization and population growth, leading to overuse and reduced aquifer recharge. Sustainable groundwater supplies can only be created through better management and artificial recharge techniques. This study uses multi-influencing factor, literature-based, and combined techniques to identify and characterize groundwater-managed aquifer recharge potential sites (GWMARPSs) in Punjab. There are limitations to the previous work in this field, and these factors have not been used to estimate GWRPSs in the study area. The study uses GIS and RS techniques to overlay twelve geo-informative layers, with rainfall being the most significant factor. High-quality data and observations from the field are incorporated into the model. The study classifies the GWMARPSs into five categories, with Punjab having 0.34%, 13.29%, 60.68%, 25.26%, and 0.43% of the least, poorly, moderately, well-, and highly suitable sites. Punjab’s southern regions are least suitable for recharge, while some areas in eastern and northern Punjab are well-suited for recharge. Alluvial plains, valleys, low-lying areas, and areas with volcanic landforms are classified as least to poorly suitable zones. Model predictions are validated using piezometric level data and ROC and exhibit good performance (AUC, 0.74). This study could serve as a baseline for future groundwater research.

Highland ecologies are the most susceptible to climate change, often experiencing intensified impacts. Due to climate change and human activities, there were dramatic changes in the alpine domain of the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which is a vital project of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The CPEC is subjected to rapid infrastructure expansion, which may lead to potential land surface susceptibility. Hence, focusing on sustainable development goals, mainly SDG 9 (industry, innovation, and infrastructure) and SDG 13 (climate action), to evaluate the conservation and management practices for the sustainable and regenerative development of the mountainous region, this study aims to assess change detection and find climatic conditions using multispectral indices along the mountainous area of Gilgit and Hunza-Nagar, Pakistan. It has yielded practical and highly relevant implications. For sustainable and regenerative ecologies, this study utilized 30 × 30 m Landsat 5 (TM), Landsat 7 (ETM+), and Landsat-8/9 (OLI and TIRS), and meteorological data were employed to calculate the aridity index (AI). The results of the AI showed a non-significant decreasing trend (−0.0021/year, p > 0.05) in Gilgit and a significant decreasing trend (−0.0262/year, p < 0.05) in Hunza-Nagar. NDVI distribution shows a decreasing trend (−0.00469/year, p > 0.05), while NDWI has depicted a dynamic trend in water bodies. Similarly, NDBI demonstrated an increasing trend, with rates of 79.89%, 87.69%, and 83.85% from 2008 to 2023. The decreasing values of AI mean a drying trend and increasing drought risk, as the study area already has an arid and semi-arid climate. The combination of multispectral indices and the AI provides a comprehensive insight into how various factors affect the mountainous landscape and climatic conditions in the study area. This study has practical and highly relevant implications for policymakers and researchers interested in research related to land use and land cover change, environmental and infrastructure development in alpine regions.

The recent energy shortfall in Pakistan has prompted the need for the development of hydropower projects to cope with the energy and monetary crisis. Hydropower in the northern areas is available yet has not been explored too much. Focusing on the sustainable development goal (SDG) “Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy”, thirteen proposed sites were selected from upstream to downstream of the Hunza River for analysis. The head on all the proposed sites was determined by taking the elevation difference between the proposed turbine and the intake at all sites. The discharge on all proposed ungauged sites was determined using ArcGIS for watershed delineation and the area ratio method along with Soil Conservation Service–Curve Number (SCS-CN) by using gauged data of Hunza River provided by Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) Pakistan at Daniyor bridge Gilgit, Shimshal and the Passo tributaries of Hunza River. The Location Search Algorithm (LSA) approach used a multi-criteria decision-making tool (MDM) to make a decision matrix considering the location and constraint criteria and then normalizing the decision matrix using benefit and cost criteria, the relative weights were assigned to all criteria using a rank sum weighted method and the sites were ranked on the basis of the final score. The results revealed that Hunza River has a significant hydropower potential and based on the final score in the LSA approach, proposed site 13, site 4 and site 9 were concluded as the most promising sites among proposed alternatives. The proposed methodology could be an encouraging step for decision makers for future hydropower development in Pakistan.

The world’s plastic bag problem adversely impacts the environment daily. Plastic bags decompose after years, and some may take centuries, leading to pollution. Society relies on plastic bags for every task, which causes many problems for humans and aquatic life. Focusing on Sustainable Development Goal 12 (SDG 12), this research used waste plastic bags melted in a boilery to develop plastocrete to cast plastocrete paving blocks and roofing tiles. Compressive and split tensile strength tests were performed on plastocrete paving blocks, while a thermal insulation test was performed on roofing tiles in the Concrete Lab of our Department. The compressive strength test on plastocrete showed that it can easily replace concrete pavement blocks after giving good compressive strengths compared with concrete blocks. Being very low in tensile strength, plastocrete is not recommended for flexure members. The thermal insulation test results indicate that using plastic bags as roofing tiles decreases thermal conductivity compared with a controlled reinforced slab. Hence, it is concluded that plastocrete will help reduce pollution in the terrestrial and aquatic environment and can be an effective waste disposal solution. The plastocrete-led paving blocks and roofing tiles not only help economically but also help preserve nature and the environment from land pollution.

The hydrology and climate of mid to high-latitude mountainous areas are significantly impacted by snow cover. Since adding or removing snow cover significantly impacts the snowpack’s capacity to operate as a reservoir for water storage, the snowfall-dominated basins of mid- to higher latitudes are anticipated to see the largest shifts in the hydrological cycle because of global warming. By moving the time slider in the historical imagery feature of Google Earth Pro, the Upper Indus Basin study area was examined from the years 1984 to 2020 to track changes in the snow cover. All observations were made with longitude and latitude at 35o, 34', 51.79" N and 74o, 34', 24.21" E, and the eye altitude at 344.46 miles. Google Earth captured pictures of all the observations on December 31st of every year. The data from 1984 to 2020 was examined keenly, and it was observed that as time goes on, global warming is showing its effects and producing climate changes, which has a negative impact on the region's snow and glacier availability. The Landsat images make it abundantly evident that the lower areas of the upper Indus Basin's snow cover are more negatively impacted than the downstream side areas due to the variation in altitude. The authors also referred to the research work by other researchers in the study to compare with their work. The study observed that some areas were utterly showing no snow in 2020 as compared to 1984 as time moved on with an increase in global warming in 36 years.

Surface water quality in Skardu, Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan, is of immense importance because of the city’s dependence on these resources for domestic uses, agriculture, and drinking water. The water quality index (WQI) was integrated with the Geographic Information System (GIS) to spatially envision and examine water quality data to facilitate the identification of pollution hotspots, trend analysis, and knowledge-based decision-making for effective water resource management. This study aims to evaluate the physiochemical and bacteriological parameters of the Satpara watershed and to provide the spatial distribution of these parameters. This study endeavors to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6) by identifying localities with excellent and unfit water for drinking, sanitation, and hygiene. A total of fifty-one surface water samples were collected from various parts of the Satpara watershed during the fall season of 2023. Well-established laboratory techniques were used to investigate water for parameters like Electrical Conductivity (EC), pH, turbidity, total dissolved solids (TDSs), major cations (${\mathrm{K}}^{+}$, ${\mathrm{Na}}^{+}$, ${\mathrm{Mg}}^{2+}$, ${\mathrm{Ca}}^{2+}$), major anions (${\mathrm{Cl}}^{-}$, ${\mathrm{SO}}_4^{2-}$, ${\mathrm{NO}}_3^{-}$, ${\mathrm{HCO}}_3^{-}$), and bacteriological contaminants (E. coli). Spatial distribution maps of all these parameters were created using the Inverse Distance Weighted (IDW) technique in a GIS environment. A significant variation in the quality of water was observed along the study area. The level of Escherichia coli (E. coli) contamination is above the permissible limit at various locations along the watershed, making water unsafe for direct human consumption in these areas. Some regions showed low TDS values, which could adversely affect human health and agricultural yield. From the WQI valuation, 58.82% of the collected samples were “Poor”, 31.8% were “Very poor” and 9.8% were found to be “Unfit for drinking”. The research findings emphasize the pressing need for consistent monitoring and adoption of water management strategies in Skardu City to warrant sustainable soil and water use. The spatial maps generated for various parameters and the water quality index WQI offer critical insights for targeted intercessions.