Water is essential for human beings to survive and
develop. At the same time, water is a scarce commodity and shortage sometimes
results in crisis. Both facts lead to the simple conclusion that lack of water
hinders development and a dignified life.
Protecting
the quality and availability of clean drinking water resources is becoming the
most critical of many environmental challenges for Pakistan. Pakistan has, in
essence, exhausted its available water resources and is on the verge of
becoming a water-deficit country.
According
to the State of
Environment Report 2005, in Pakistan, availability of water was 5,000 cubic
metres per capita per annum in 1951, which dropped to 1,100 cubic metres in
2007. This estimate reveals that the country will slip below the limit of 1,000
cubic metres from 2012 onwards.
The
situation could get worse in areas situated outside the Indus Basin where
annual average is already below 1,000 cubic metres per capita, according to the
report. It is projected that water availability will be less than 700 cubic
metres by 2025, says Pak Strategic Country Environment Assessment 2006.
Reduced
and sudden release/blockage of water from India, under unilateral
interpretations of Indus Waters Treaty, also worsens the situation. This
directly adds to water insecurity, food insecurity, energy insecurity and
acuteness of vulnerability of the already vulnerable population.
In
Pakistan the attempt to raise living standards of citizens has meant that
economic development has largely taken precedence over environmental issues.
Unchecked use of hazardous chemicals, vehicle emissions and industrial activity
have contributed to a number of environmental and health hazards, chief among
them being water pollution. Much of the country suffers from a lack of potable
water due to industrial waste and agricultural runoff that contaminates
drinking water supplies.
With
increasing population and depleting water resources, the country is fast
heading towards water shortage and threat of famine. The minimum water
requirement to avoid being a “water short country” is 1,000 cubic metres per
capita per year.
Fresh
storages, therefore, have to be created by building dams to replenish the lost
capacity and save the agricultural economy from total disaster, and produce
food grains for rapidly increasing population.
About
80% of Punjab has fresh groundwater, with some saline water in the south and in
desert areas. In Sindh, less than 30% of groundwater is fresh. Much of the
province is underlain by highly brackish water. In Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa,
increasing abstraction has led to wells reaching saline layers, and much of
Balochistan also has saline groundwater (Pak-SCEA
2006).
The
quality of water in federal capital Islamabad and adjacent city Rawalpindi is
no better than the rest of the country. A survey carried out by the National
Institute of Health (NIH) revealed that 75% of water in Islamabad and 87% in
Rawalpindi is unsafe for human consumption.
The
statistics show that there is a close link between poor quality of water and
health risk. In Pakistan, diarrheal diseases are estimated to kill 200,000
children under the age of five years (548 per day) due to contaminated water.
The cost to the economy due to diarrhea is estimated at Rs55-80 billion per
year.
Total
health costs of water-related mortality and morbidity are estimated at Rs114
billion or approximately 1.81% of GDP (Pak-SCEA 2006).
According
to Water Sector Investment Planning Study, Pakistan will face a deficit of 12
million tons in total grain production in 2012-13 which is 31% of projected
target. Such large scale deficit cannot be bridged simply by improving farming
practices and technology. The irrigation supplies scenario, by the year
2012-13, would be critical, and it will become increasingly disastrous
year-by-year thereafter. Hence, there is an urgent need to save water and of
more storage dams.
There
are no clear guidelines, rules or regulations for groundwater/fresh water
abstraction, which results in depletion of ground water resources in the
country. In addition to this, provision of safe water to inhabitants seems to
be a low priority for successive governments.
Even
in presence of policies like National Water Policy (draft), National Drinking
Water Policy (draft), National Environment Policy, etc, there is no clear
strategy to implement them. Experts believe that rising water conflicts is more
of a governance issue. If we want to save Pakistan, then we must save our water
resources by resolving our governance issues.
The
writer is a consultant at the Sustainable Development Policy Institute
Islamabad
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