Hey all! I am a beginner, and I would like to have the seniors evaluate my essay. Any guidance, corrections, or constructive criticism will be appreciated.
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WATER CRISIS IN PAKISTAN – CAUSES AND REMEDIES
OUTLINE
1. Introduction

2. Overview of the Current Situation of water crisis in Pakistan

3. Causes of water crisis in Pakistan
3.1 Delay in the construction of new dams and Limited storage capacity of the existing dams
3.2 Violation of Indus water Treaty by India.
3.3 Lack of proper water management
3.4 Climate change
3.5 Rapid population growth and urbanization
3.6 Financial constraints

4. Impacts of Water Crisis
4.1 Health
4.2 Economy

5. Remedies
5.1 Construction of new dams and raising the height of existing dams to increase storage capacity
5.1.1 Diamer-Basha Dam
5.1.2 Kalabagh Dam
5.1.3 Raised Mangla Dam
5.1.4 Raised Gomal Dam
5.2 Use of advanced technology for water conservation
5.3 Proper management of the resources
5.3.1 reducing water losses from seepages, leaching and percolation
5.3.2 awareness campaigns about careful and responsible usage of water
5.4 Funds allocation

6. Conclusion

 
ESSAY

"No person in Pakistan, whether from the north with its more than 5,000 glaciers, or from the south with its 'hyper deserts,' will be immune to this [scarcity]" -Neil Buhne, UN humanitarian coordinator for Pakistan.

Water is one of the most important substances on earth. All living things require water in order to survive. If there was no water there would be no life on earth. Unfortunately, Pakistan is currently facing an acute water shortage that is likely to wreck havoc in the country in the coming years. According to an IMF report, Pakistan ranks third among countries most affected by water scarcity. It has the world’s 4th highest rate of water use. Its water intensity rate measured as per unit of GDP is the world’s highest. Be it wastage of water, climate change, limited storage capacity, or mismanagement of water resources, apparently, the Government entities lack the coordination to tackle the issue of water crisis. Construction of new dams, raising height of existing dams, use of advanced technology for water conservation, and proper management of the resources are a few ways to counter this emergency situation.

Illango Patchamuthu, World Bank Country Director for Pakistan, recently stated that,

“Water security in Pakistan is reaching a critical point that demands urgent attention and reform.”

Pakistan is running out of fresh water at an alarming rate, and authorities anticipate that it is likely to suffer a shortage of 31 million acre-feet (MAF) of water by 2025. A new World Bank report states that while Pakistan, the sixth most populous country in the world, is well-endowed with water, water availability per person is comparatively low. Global warming and climate change have badly affected the monsoon season and annual rainfall received. As a result, the annual water available has reduced from 1,500 cubic meters per capita in 2009 to only 1,017 cubic meters. That is barely above the minimum requirement of a thousand. The shortfall will be devastating for a country with an agriculture-based economy.

A number of causes lead to this acute shortage of water in Pakistan.

Firstly, delay in the construction of dams and water reservoir has resulted in the acute shortage of water in the country. Dams are quite essential for water storage. Pakistan’s total dam capacity is 30 days of the average demand whereas the figure is 1000 days for Egypt and 220 days for India. Pakistan receives around 145 million acre feet of water every year but can only save 13.7 million acre feet. Pakistan needs 40 million acre feet of water but 29 million acre feet of our floodwater is wasted because we have few dams. Despite the two ground-breaking ceremonies of Diamer-Bhasha dam by the successive governments, developmental work on the life saving project has not been started yet. Financial constraints accompanied with the lack of resources, infrastructure and political will among the leaders are some key factors which do not let the construction of dams, barrages and reservoirs in Pakistan. Particularly, the Kalabagh Dam, that could have addressed many of the power and water problems which are being faced today. Furthermore, the limited storage capacity of the existing dams has also contributed to the issue of water shortage.

Secondly, the violation of Indus water Treaty (IWT) on the part of India is a prime reason of Pakistan’s water crisis. India has constructed the Kishan Ganga and Ratle Dams on the Jhelum and Chenab rivers, respectively, and has also completed the Baglehar Dam on the Chenab River. Pakistan has serious reservations about the construction of these dams since it would further constrict the flow of water to Pakistan. The implications of India’s construction of dams, its attempt to revoke or modify the terms of Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), and its threats to block rivers to Pakistan will only aggravate the water crisis in Pakistan.

Thirdly, Weak administration and poor water management are also causing water scarcity. Some people leave their taps running even when they are not fetching water. Poor infrastructure also results in the loss of water. An estimated 40% of water that run through canals is lost because of seepage. The reason is the canal beds and banks are unlined, poorly lined or porous. More than 90% of Pakistan’s water resources are allocated to Agriculture. Traditional and antiquated agriculture techniques are leading towards 50 to 60% loss of water. Water intensive crops like rice and sugarcane are being cultivated without taking into account the optimum crop rotation. This inefficient water distribution is creating water shortages and has forced people to use unhygienic water for daily consumption. Furthermore, inadequate monitoring and data management prevent robust water resource assessments and accounting to guide water planning and management and prevents reliable flood and drought forecasting. In addition, some growing, long-term water-related risks are not adequately recognized and are poorly mitigated.

Fourthly, rapidly growing population along with urbanization are also some significant factors leading towards water scarcity. Pakistan is among the world’s top 6 most populous states as per the UN report, and is projected to have a population of about 300 million by the end of 2050 which has threatened the sustainability of water resources. The rise in population is leading to higher demand for water for domestic, industrial, agricultural and municipal needs and also evacuation for waste materials, which results into massive shortage of water.

Fifthly, climate change is further complicating our water scarcity problem. The Germanwatch think tank says in its latest climate risk report that Pakistan is the world's seventh most vulnerable country to climate change. Climate change is affecting the world now, and one of the most obvious ways is by melting glaciers. On average, glaciers in Pakistan currently lose between 50 to 150 cm thickness every year. Glaciers are a major source of water supply for Pakistan, however, according to a study glaciers in Pakistan are melting continuously because of rising temperature and by the year 2050 the country would no longer possess water reserves in the form of glaciers.

Last but not the least, financial constraints also lead to the water crisis in the country. Lack of financial resources makes it difficult to build new dams and to expand the capacity of existing dams. Furthermore, it results in the poor management of the water resources.

Water crisis has some serious impacts on human life as well as on the economy of the country.

(a) Water crisis badly affects the health of the citizens. Due to shortage of water, people are forced to drink low quality water from flowing streams, many of which are contaminated and results in serious water-borne diseases.
(b) Lack of water or quality water causes huge sanitation issues. Clinics, local restaurants, public places of convenience and many other places are forced to use very little water for cleaning. This compromises the health of the staff and people who use the facilities.
(c) Less water means farming and other crops that need water to grow have lower yield. Due to less production of such crops, the Industries related to them will suffer adversely.
(d) Raising livestock is the main source of livelihood of rural areas. It is also an important economic activity, which contributes 9.7% of GDP, will be affected due to shortage of water.
(e) Orchards of Pakistan bring home a healthy amount of foreign exchange, which can be affected due water shortage.

So for overcoming the water crises following remedies are suggested:

Building new dams is the need of the hour. The Diamer-Bhasha Dam would store an extra 8,500,000 acre feet (10.5 km3) of water for Pakistan that would be used for irrigation and drinking. The reservoir will also increase the national water storage capability from 30 days to 48 days. The Kalabagh Dam would provide 6.5 million acre feet of water to cultivate seven million acres of currently barren land. Furthermore, raising the structure of Mangla dam, Gomal dam, Satpara dam and Sabakzai dam should be the top priority of the government as raising the height of these dams would exponentially increase the water storage capacity.

Advance technology should be employed in order to conserve water. Drip irrigation technology saves large amounts of water while improving horticultural results. It places water directly on the soil, above the feeder roots, instead of spraying it into the air or over the surface of the ground at high pressures and volumes. Water applied by drip irrigation is less subject to wind, runoff and evaporation.

Government should create a think tank including planning commission, Higher Education Commission, (HEC) and universities in order to improve water resource development and management. The need to reform water policies is as urgent as ever. Efforts should be made to convert the present rotation based irrigation system to demand oriented system. Authorities should take appropriate steps to curb the illegal extraction of water and ensure its equitable distribution. In addition, water, now-a-days is supplied to farmers at a very negligible cost and that is why they do not treat water as a precious resource; therefore there is a need to increase the water prices to make irrigators realize the importance of this asset. Infrastructure should be improved in order to reduce water losses from seepages, leaching and percolation. Furthermore, People should be educated to conserve water. In this regard, awareness campaigns should be initiated for careful and responsible use of water.

Sufficient funds should be allocated to the Water and Power Development Authority for the construction of new dams and revamping of the existing ones. Furthermore, the funds allocated should be utilized properly for the development and management of water resources.

In a nutshell, Pakistan is facing acute water crisis owing to a number of factors like Lack of proper water management, Climate change, Delay in the construction of new dams, etc. It is an alarming situation for the country. The federal and provincial governments must take proper and immediate measures to reduce the crisis before the country entirely runs dry.

Please help!!!

Guys please help!!!

it's a good attempt. You need to practice more and more to bring more perfection in it. Avoid bullet points in essay.Avoid repetition of points. It is better to write less than to repeat as it would give impression that you are just trying to write more while you have nothing more to say. For instance, in suggestions you repeated the construction of dams in first and the second last para while both had they same gist. Overall it was a good one. keep it up

Thanks a ton for your guidance. I really appreciate it.

I totally get that repetition should not be there. Can you please let me know how do I make the improvements? I mean, the second last paragraph was meiny about funds. I mentioned the point regarding dams, because I wanted to justify why funds would be important. How can I make it a little better?

Reading the bullet point thing, you see, the impacts that I have mentioned are mostly one liners. How do I write something without making bullet points If it's a one liner?

Thanks.

Mainly*

Regarding*

This is a fairly good attempt, I don't find anything irrelevant here. You have addressed the topic quite well still I would like to add few things which I think should be a part of this essay, you can ignore if you think otherwise.

Third paragraph of your causes:
You can strengthen your point by giving examples of areas where there is enough supply of fresh water throughout the year but people face water shortage and taps in their homes run dry just because of lack of interest and poor management from concerned authorities and leadership. Facing a water crisis despite of so many rivers, glaciers and other water resources is not easy to digest.

Impacts:
1. You can add extensive droughts due to non availability of water and their impacts on economy and health.
2. It can give rise to inter provincial water disputes which already exists as we can see by disagreement on construction of dams but water crisis will worsen the situation.

Remedies:
In causes you have mentioned climate change so there should be something in remedies to cope with that,
- Afforestation campaigns.
- Discouraging cutting of mountains and deforestation for commercial usage of land and urbanization as it badly affects the water cycle and escalate global warming.

Thanks so much for your guidance. Really appreciated. I'd surely work on it.
Someone in the previous replies told me not to write in bullet points. Any idea how do I mention the impact or anything that's one liner?

Once a seasoned writer told me to write well, you need to study well. So i would suggest you the same. Whereas one liner thing is concerned, you can connect all the impacts in a single paragraph. Which in my opinion is better than writing in bullet points. Nevertheless, you can still ask for experts' opinions .

I am a beginner in css preparation so I don't know for sure that one should write in one liner bullets or shouldn't. If I am writing an essay I will use one liners in outline only and not in the body.

Nevertheless, let's suppose one shouldn't write in bullets; you can write a and b of your impacts in a paragraph of 3 to 4 lines as they are related to health. Similarly c and d are alike i.e farming and livestock, they can be briefly explain in one paragraph and so on.

Three to four short paragraphs on impacts should be enough in my opinion as topic mentions only causes and remedies.