Pakistan: A Water Stress Country


  At the time of independence, Pakistan was a water-abundant country. But, the reality has changed in today's time. The country is the epicenter of the growing water crisis and it has fallen in the list of water stress countries.

  The questions popping up in the minds are what are the factors that have been pushing Pakistan towards water scarcity? and is there any way forward?

  To answer these questions, one has to delve deep into the different socio-economic and political dynamics of the country.

 On the social side, from the time of independence to 2025, the population of Pakistan has soared from 35 million to more than 220 million. It means that the demand curve is on the rise at an exorbitant rate.

 Then, the years of negligence, poor water governance and political turmoil have been aggravating the situation.

 For a majority of Pakistanis, water is still a plentiful resource; therefore, if they are still cultivating highly water-intensive crops like rice and sugarcane or a huge amount of freshwater is getting waste through old age poor irrigation systems or buckets of water are merely being used for washing vehicles, there is no need to worry.

 Likewise, the response of top-tier leadership is also very callous. The stakeholders have been failed to build the optimum number of dams.

 Construction of reservoirs like Kalabagh Dam are still in limbo, and the leadership has not been able to develop consensus.

 On the other hand, rising climate changes -like lower rates of precipitation and frequent heatwaves in consecutive years- economic constraints to construct reservoirs, and violations of the Indus Water Treaty by India also magnified the crisis.

  However,  the tides of the growing water paucity can be tamed. The government should consider water scarcity as an issue of national security and enforce water emergency.

  The message should be conveyed to the people that water is a precious gift and extravagance in its use is nither affordable nor tolerable.

  Installation of meters and heavy charges on use of water beyond a threshold limit can also conserve the resource.

  Smart irrigation practices- like drip irrigation- repairment of canals, reuse of water after treatment and cultivation of less water-intensive crops (Pulses) are the other available viable options.

  At the government level, there is a need to fix governance issues. Options like the installment of inflatable rubber dams to save water during extraordinary rain spells and flooding seasons, public-private partnerships to build other water reservoirs, and proactive diplomacy at the international level to preserve the maximum flow of water in Sindh, Jelum, and Chenab rivers are the assignments need the urgent attention.

  In simple words, water scarcity is a ticking bomb. If we do not able to diffuse it, the devastation will be immense.

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