Underground lake can bring peace in conflict-hit Darfur: US geologist

US geologist Farouk el-Baz feels that a newly found imprint of a vast, ancient underground lake in Sudan can play a vital role in bringing peace to the Darfur region.

London, July 19 : US geologist Farouk el-Baz feels that a newly found imprint of a vast, ancient underground lake in Sudan can play a vital role in bringing peace to the Darfur region.

El-Baz, Director of Boston University's Centre for Remote Sensing, said that most people don't know that the instability in the region is based on the lack of water.

"If you find water for the farmers, in addition to that for the nomads, for agricultural production, to feed them, to give them grain, then you resolve the problem completely," The Times quoted him, as saying.

El-Baz said that scores of refugees from Darfur settled in regions that were once the domain of nomads, were straining for water resources and sowing conflict between farmers and nomads.

The potential water deposits were found with the help of a radar that allowed researchers to see what lies beneath Sudan's deserts. El-Baz said the images uncovered a "mega lake" of 19,110 square miles- three times the size of Lebanon.

El-Baz feels that ground-water deposits can be drilled for water, and has expressed the hope that regional governments and non-government organisations would support it.

His initiative, 1,000 Wells for Darfur, has gained the support of Egypt, which has pledged to build 20 wells to begin with, the report said.

According to United Nations Development Programme, widespread environmental problems are the root cause of Sudan's violence.

The US says that about 200,000 people have died in four years of rape, killing and disease in Darfur, describing the violence there as genocide. However, Sudan rejects the term and puts the death toll at 9,000, the paper reported.

ANI