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Water Crisis in Pakistan: News and Discussions

Pakistan to adopt UN Decade of Action for water sector

ISLAMABAD: Facing a grim water situation, Pakistan plans to adopt the United Nations’ Decade (2018-28) of Action: Water for Sustainable Development programme envisaging integrated water resources management including seawater treatment for Karachi, Gwadar, Pasni, Jiwani, Keti Bandar and other coastal areas.

This was the crux of a consultative session attended by local and international consultants and representatives of the federal and provincial governments and companies, arranged by the Planning Commission as part of its efforts to implement the country’s first National Water Policy recently approved by the Council of Common Interests (CCI).

The conference was told that Pakistan was a water-scarce country and its availability was likely to further reduce and make it more vulnerable on supply side due to upstream water use by India, Afghanistan and China. Moreover, Pakistan’s water scarcity will increase due to climate change and enhanced demand due to urbanisation, industrial development, population increase, changes in life patterns and food consumption patterns, increased GDP and higher irrigation requirements due to global warming.

The session was told that groundwater aquifers, due to unsustainable withdrawal of water, had dangerously declined in Quetta and Lahore while out of 43 canal command areas, 37 had shown drastic decrease in groundwater level, with alarming consequences.



Groundwater quality has been deteriorating due to excessive mining, causing aquifer mixing of saline water and pollutants, including heavy metals like arsenic, lead and fluoride, while surface and ground water are also contaminated by pathogens due to mixing of sewerage and industrial wastewater contamination.

The conference noted that water borne-diseases generally included conventional diseases like malaria and typhoid, but now hepatitis was also increasing as reported from the districts of Gujranwala and Bahawalnagar, Rivers of Ravi, Sutluj, Malir and Lyari are now filled with sewage whereas Islamabad’s fresh water streams are now causing health hazards. Likewise, the greater Karachi area has damaged aqua life and water quality in the coastal areas.

The session recognised that the cosmopolitan city of Karachi and the emerging commercial hub of Gwadar required seawater treatment to meet their growing water demands for which innovative models should be devised for financial sustainability of the system.

It noted that solar desalination was highly suitable option for Keti Bandar, Thatta and Badin in Sindh and Ormara, Pasni and Jiwani in Balochistan and suggested that measures should be adopted to promote this technology in these areas.

Published in Dawn, June 21st, 2018
 
Most of Pakistan's water usage comes from underground, not rivers. Most people don't know this. The reason for the "shortage" is because we refused to use condoms in the 80s and 90s and our population ballooned. What were you all expecting?

The way to solve the water crisis is to wrap up your **** and stop having so many kids. Problem solved.
 
NO,the best way to limit population growth is develop economy.

The fast population growth happenned in AFRICA,where child death rate is also the highest!

Poor family have more kids to make sure some of them will survive and grow up.
 
How can the economy grow when you have a skewed population pyramid? Ideally the majority of the population should be between 18 to 60...working class. When you have a huge youth or elderly population, your economy gets burdened.

The water problems are 100% because of the population boom. Our population is simply too high. Ideally Pakistan should be around 90,000,000 to 120,000,000. Nothing more.
 
If you have high technology, which previously required 100 tons of water for irrigation, now 10 tons of water is enough, through the root drip irrigation technology.
 
Thanks finally this nation has awakened from the deep sleep, better late than never. Not one or two or three successive Govt have failed.
 
Most of Pakistan's water usage comes from underground, not rivers. Most people don't know this. The reason for the "shortage" is because we refused to use condoms in the 80s and 90s and our population ballooned. What were you all expecting?

The way to solve the water crisis is to wrap up your **** and stop having so many kids. Problem solved.

I Blame RAW ¿
 
Diameer Bhasha Dam and Mohmand Dam Fundraising by Supreme Court Mian Saqib Nisar Donating Rs 10 Lac

 
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