Water Crisis in Pakistan.

[Engr Nouman Shah]

Water scarcity is one of the most daunting challenges facing Pakistan today. It has brought her at the brink of civil war and has stagnated her progress. Availability of water is crucial for the progress of agricultural economy like Pakistan. Therefore, measures should be taken both at government as well as individual level to counter this menace before it is too late.
If we look at the factors responsible for water scarcity lack of water reservoirs tops the list. Pakistan has water storage capacity of 30 days as compared to international standard of 120 days. Further, according to Muhammad Khalid Rana of Indus River System Authority Pakistan receives 145 million acre feet of , but can store merely 13.7 million acre feet. An approximately 131 million acre foot of water is being wasted as sea intrusion due to the lack of dams. Moreover, lives storage capacity of already constructed dams, Tarbela and Mangla dams, had declined up to 25 percent due to sedimentation. Thus, construction of new dams is indispensible for curtailing the water paucity in country.
If proper management of natural resources can lead a country towards self-sufficiency, in the same manner mismanagement of these resources could push a country into crises. Same is the case with Pakistan, at her inception she was one of the water abundant countries, however, unfortunately due to lack of proper planning and will at the government level she turned into water deficient country. We failed to adopt scientific methods in our irrigation systems. Resultantly, today more than 80 percent of our population has no access to safe drinking water. Furthermore, callous attitude of our masse, climate change, lack of rainfall and dilapidated water infrastructure are other factors that can be held responsible for acute water shortage in our country.
Up till now we have discussed only the causes of water crisis in Pakistan. Now the time has reached to have a look at the problems it has created in our society. The decline in agricultural yield is at the heath of issues created due to the dearth of water. The share of agriculture in Pakistan’s GDP has reduced to 19 percent as compared to 40 percent in sixties. Secondly, non-availability of drinking water is also serious issue as it may cause migration of people towards already populated city thus causing population explosion in the major cities and also joblessness. Thirdly, the issue is also threatening for national integration as the fight of provinces over water distribution is already raising his head. Fourthly, destruction of infrastructure and deaths due to annual floods is also a direct effect of water reservoir. Hence, it can be said water scarcity has cost Pakistan.
Having discussed the water scarcity in Pakistan its cause and consequences the time has reached to devise some solutions to counter this menace. Indeed, construction of new dams and proper planning for water storage are the very most among these solutions. Construction of new dams and timely completion of diamer basha and momand dam not only solve our water problems , but also our thrust for energy, as only diamer basha dam has capacity of producing 4500 megawatt of electricity generation capacity. Secondly, proper planning and management of our irrigation system is also vital for saving water, in this regard authorities should improve our irrigation system by applying modern techniques.
Moreover, mass campaigns and educating people about importance of water is also crucial. For this to be done our print and electronic media should initiate programmers that teach people about judicious use of water. Also the role of civil society, ulemas and scholars cannot be ruled out. Religious scholars should teach the masses importance of water according to religious texts. Scholars and civil society members should take responsibility to aware people about significance of water in their sphere of influence. Indeed, in this way we can defeat the scarcity of water.
To sum up, water is the backbone of agricultural economies like Pakistan. The shortage of water is creating plethora of problems for our country. It has threatened our national integration and is the main cause behind food insecurity, unemployment and social disturbance in country. It is high time that we as a nation should join our hands together and cooperate with government by planting trees, efficiently using water, and contributing our share in funds for the construction of dams. Only in this way we can nip the evil of water paucity in bud and save our country.