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Water crisis looms large over Pakistan: expert
By Ijaz Kakakhel
ISLAMABAD: Former Senior Advisor to the World Bank, Fateh M. Chaudhri has said that over the last 60 years the government had done little to tackle the challenge of water shortage in an effective way.
Talking to Daily Times here on Wednesday he said that water being the lifeline of an agrarian economy should be given due priority and resources should be allocated for availability of water to sustain economic growth. He said that public sector investment in the water and sanitation sectors in grossly inadequate. The government is spending only 0.25 percent of GDP on it.
He said the MTDF and ADBs Asian Water Development Outlook (2007) have enumerated several water-related problems.
There was no integrated approach to avoid sub-optimal uses of water and extensive system losses. Safe disposal of wastewater is virtually non-existent. The quantity of water has been deteriorating, he lamented.
He claimed that institutional capacities were insufficient. They work inefficiently and lack mutual coordination.
There is no inter-ministerial and inter-provincial body to oversee water sector planning, development and management, he pointed out, adding that water, agriculture and rural development projects and related research were poorly inter-linked.
The water expert said besides sustaining life, water was a crucial factor of production in manufacturing industry, power generation, mining and agriculture but still the current per capita availability of water in Pakistan is 1,200 cubic meters, one of the lowest in the world.
The expert placed Pakistan in the category of high water distress countries.
The immediate water shortage crisis in Pakistan is severe, and experts maintain that the long-term forecast is bleaker.
Faced with such dire predictions there have been calls for Pakistan to deal on war-footing with what is considered by many to be a man-made crisis rather than a natural phenomenon.
From 1997 to 2002 Pakistan faced severe shortage of water due to a cycle of drought and reduced storage capacity of water reservoirs. Worldwide supplies of water are falling while the demand is growing at an unsustainable rate. This situation shows that over the next 20 years, the average supply of water worldwide per person is expected to drop by a third. Presently, many countries and territories of the world are already in a state of crises.
Obviously, Pakistan is also the part of the world and unfortunately an underdeveloped country, facing the same problems of water shortage, as the world is facing including developed countries. Developed and underdeveloped countries excluding Pakistan, are continuously implementing short-term and long-term water development policies to overcome these crises.
But unfortunately, during the last 60 years Pakistan had built only two big reservoirs.
Existing population of Pakistan is around more than 160 million and it is expected to rise to 208 million by 2025. This growth in population will significantly increase the demand for food and fibre with both land and water resources are declining day by day. Pakistans food import bill is rising on account of population and output is declining as a result of reduced water availability. The situation at the Indus and other rivers, dams and reservoirs is deteriorating and their total storage capacity would reduce by an equivalent of Mangla dam.
However, water sector has been given the highest priority in the budget allocation for 2007-08 with an allocation of Rs 70.91 billion, which is 24 percent higher than the last year budget allocation of Rs 57.05 billion. Maximum resources have been given to the timely completion of on-going water related projects, including water storages and canal. The main strategy adopted in water sector is to achieve the planned target under MTDF.
we spend so much energy on issues like will BD return to pakistan but no one has spent any time on a crisis issue which is looming on the horizon.
By Ijaz Kakakhel
ISLAMABAD: Former Senior Advisor to the World Bank, Fateh M. Chaudhri has said that over the last 60 years the government had done little to tackle the challenge of water shortage in an effective way.
Talking to Daily Times here on Wednesday he said that water being the lifeline of an agrarian economy should be given due priority and resources should be allocated for availability of water to sustain economic growth. He said that public sector investment in the water and sanitation sectors in grossly inadequate. The government is spending only 0.25 percent of GDP on it.
He said the MTDF and ADBs Asian Water Development Outlook (2007) have enumerated several water-related problems.
There was no integrated approach to avoid sub-optimal uses of water and extensive system losses. Safe disposal of wastewater is virtually non-existent. The quantity of water has been deteriorating, he lamented.
He claimed that institutional capacities were insufficient. They work inefficiently and lack mutual coordination.
There is no inter-ministerial and inter-provincial body to oversee water sector planning, development and management, he pointed out, adding that water, agriculture and rural development projects and related research were poorly inter-linked.
The water expert said besides sustaining life, water was a crucial factor of production in manufacturing industry, power generation, mining and agriculture but still the current per capita availability of water in Pakistan is 1,200 cubic meters, one of the lowest in the world.
The expert placed Pakistan in the category of high water distress countries.
The immediate water shortage crisis in Pakistan is severe, and experts maintain that the long-term forecast is bleaker.
Faced with such dire predictions there have been calls for Pakistan to deal on war-footing with what is considered by many to be a man-made crisis rather than a natural phenomenon.
From 1997 to 2002 Pakistan faced severe shortage of water due to a cycle of drought and reduced storage capacity of water reservoirs. Worldwide supplies of water are falling while the demand is growing at an unsustainable rate. This situation shows that over the next 20 years, the average supply of water worldwide per person is expected to drop by a third. Presently, many countries and territories of the world are already in a state of crises.
Obviously, Pakistan is also the part of the world and unfortunately an underdeveloped country, facing the same problems of water shortage, as the world is facing including developed countries. Developed and underdeveloped countries excluding Pakistan, are continuously implementing short-term and long-term water development policies to overcome these crises.
But unfortunately, during the last 60 years Pakistan had built only two big reservoirs.
Existing population of Pakistan is around more than 160 million and it is expected to rise to 208 million by 2025. This growth in population will significantly increase the demand for food and fibre with both land and water resources are declining day by day. Pakistans food import bill is rising on account of population and output is declining as a result of reduced water availability. The situation at the Indus and other rivers, dams and reservoirs is deteriorating and their total storage capacity would reduce by an equivalent of Mangla dam.
However, water sector has been given the highest priority in the budget allocation for 2007-08 with an allocation of Rs 70.91 billion, which is 24 percent higher than the last year budget allocation of Rs 57.05 billion. Maximum resources have been given to the timely completion of on-going water related projects, including water storages and canal. The main strategy adopted in water sector is to achieve the planned target under MTDF.
we spend so much energy on issues like will BD return to pakistan but no one has spent any time on a crisis issue which is looming on the horizon.
