Muhammad Nazim and Dr.
Muqarrab Ali
Water scarcity is not a specified issue with
Pakistan. It has become a worldwide phenomenon.
In the face of the 71 percent Earth's surface covered with water, and the
oceans holding about 96.5 percent of all Earth's water a line from ‘The Rime of
the Ancient Mariner’ comes to my mind, “Water, water everywhere but not a drop
to drink.” Water scarcity is being faced by most of the countries of the world including the United States,
India, Sub-Saharan Africa, and even Bangladesh. The world is
confronted with torrential rains accompanied by devastating floods on one side
and heat waves and droughts on the other.
The Nature And
Extent Of The Problem:
The case of Pakistan is no different. The overall
scenario of Pakistan is that it is passing through extreme scarcity of water.
The situation is going to be worst in the years ahead if appropriate steps are
not taken. The relevant data shows that Pakistan is inching towards a severe
water crisis. Reports by the United Nations
Development Program (UNDP)
as well as the Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources
(PCRWR) has alerted
that the country
will reach absolute water scarcity by the year 2025. At present
Pakistan is facing a shortage
of around 33 Million Acre Feet (MAF) of water. According to a
2015 IMF report, the demand for water is projected to reach 274 MAF by 2025, while
supply is expected
to remain stagnant
at 191 MAF, resulting in a demand- supply gap of approximately 83 MAF. According to one UNO report Pakistan
is at the 7th position in the world facing the water
crisis. According to this report, water scarcity in Pakistan could lead to serious political issues in the
coming years.
At the moment about one-third population of Pakistan
lacks access to safe drinking water which is leading
to many water-borne diseases. The Falkenmark Water Stress Indicator (one of the more commonly used measures to
calculate the volume of renewable water available per capita), sets 1,000 cubic
meters per capita as the threshold where water shortage starts hurting economic
growth. This figure was 5,650 cubic meter per capita in 1947 and has come down
to 850 cubic meters in 2017 put us in the list of water-starved countries. This
figure is going to come down to 500 cubic meters
by the year 2025. It decreased gradually with increase in population for instance
data of our Planning and Development Division, indicates the overall
water availability decreased from 1,299 cubic meters per
capita in 1996-97 to 1,101 cubic meter per capita in 2004-05. Given the growing
population and industrialization, the situation is likely to get worse. The
maximum pressure comes on the groundwater which is resulting
in rapid lowering
of water table.
Our annual growth rate of
tube wells is indicated around 7%. Our about 36% of groundwater is classified
as highly saline that means unfit for irrigation. In urban areas, the primary
source of water supply is from groundwater except for Karachi, and a part of
Islamabad and Rawalpindi, where the surface water is also used that is from
Rawal lake, Simly dam and Khanpur dam.
This indicates that the main reason for the scarcity
of water is the increase in population and industrialization as the resources
have not been augmented accordingly with the passage of time. The present
population of around 220 million could cross 395 million by the year 2047 our
100th anniversary consequently putting
enormous pressure on the demand
for water. Whereas
according to the Indus
River System Authority
(IRSA) we are throwing
around 30 MAF water
annually into the Arabian Sea which
could be saved by increasing the inland reservoir capacity. According to one
study, Pakistan at the moment is throwing worth $70 billion of water to the Sea
every year. This water not only goes waste to the sea but before that brings a
lot of devastation in the form of floods in the areas all along the rivers
during the monsoon season.
As regards groundwater we nearly pump out 50 to 55 MAF of water daily
while only 40 to 45 is recharged. It
is the Shortage of surface water has put tremendous pressure on groundwater.
The drawdown phenomena have resulted
in lowering of water table.
As regards our withdrawal of water by a source we draw 34% from
groundwater and 66% from surface water. As regards consumption of water by
sector, 94% is consumed by irrigation and livestock, 5% by Municipalities, and
1% by industries.
The Leading
Cause Of The Problem:
The reason for the crisis is also that Pakistan’s
about 80 percent area falls in the arid and semi-arid category. The problem is
being aggravated due to erratic, unpredictable and uneven nature of rainfall. When there is a prolonged
drought in the Thar and Cholistan regions
of Pakistan, they face famine like situation. That means it has to depend mainly on the storage capacity
of water in the high rainfall
areas. The water has to be stored there during high rainfall
season to be supplied
to the low rainfall regions when required.
India’s construction of Baghliar and Kishin Ganga dams
on Chenab and Jhelum rivers respectively are also obstructing the smooth flow
of water to Pakistan.
The worst case scenario is that all the governments
except president Ayyub era did not bother to pay due heed to the issue. They badly failed to visualize
the future demands
of the water and take appropriate measures accordingly. They did take specific steps,
but these were extremely
insufficient given the gravity of the issue. Tarbela and Mangla storage
and power generating dams were the only mega projects constructed as a result of the
Indus Basin water treaty of 1960 brokered by the World Bank between India and
Pakistan. Mangla dam on river Jhelum was completed in 1967 and Tarbela on river
Indus competed in 1976. The storage capacity of both the dams has now significantly decreased due to silting and
sedimentation process. It is regrettable that no such big dam was built
afterward. The construction of Kala Bagh dam fell prey to the political
nonconsensus between the various provinces of Pakistan. Whereas we would have
gone for such mega and undisputed dams in the Northern Ares of Pakistan like
Diamer Bhasha dam, and Dasu dam.
Effect On The Economy:
The acute shortage of irrigation water particularly
where the underground water is unfit for irrigation has severely affected the
agriculture sector of Pakistan which accounts for 21 percent to our
GDP as per Economic survey of Pakistan.
The contribution of agriculture to our economy
can be judged from the fact that 70 percent of our exports are from
agricultural origin including the textiles as a value-added commodity. That means agriculture is the mainstay
of our economy which
depends on the availability of irrigation water.
There are other numerous reasons that have added to
the scarcity of the water. These are the wastage and non-judicious use of
available water resources. These include extensive use of non- cemented
watercourses in the villages and non-lining of canals resulting loss of water
due to seepage.
Solutions:
The water strategy must be based upon the following two essential
components:
Water
Development – Building of more reservoirs/dams on emergent grounds to increase
the water storage capacity, and conservation of the water by saving it from
going into the Sea.
• Water Management – Conserving & saving the existing water by making its judicious use
Changing of crops pattern that is instead of rice and sugar-cane crops consuming a large quantity of water we should switch over to less water requirement crops like wheat, oilseed, pulses, and cotton.
Cementing of watercourses, the lining of canals, and proper leveling of fields can save a lot of water from being wasted in the agriculture sector.
Introduction of water saving technology like drip and sprinkling irrigation
People should be educated to conserve water
Pricing of water to check the undue use of water in the urban areas
Desalinization of Sea water
About the Author:
Muhammad Nazim, Assistant Agronomist in the office Director Agriculture (Extension)
Disvision Bahawalpur.
Dr. Muqarrab Ali, Supervisor/ Assistant Professor Department of Agronomy, HOD, Department
of AgroForestry, Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, University of Agriculture Multan.
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