Water conservation stressed to avoid scarcity

LAHORE: In addition to enhancing water storage capacity, the culture of water conservation should be adopted through its prudent use in all walks of life to avoid water scarcity, Federal Minister for Water and Power, Khawaja Muhammad Asif said on Monday.
Addressing a seminar themed “Water is life, conserve it” at Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) house, Asif said Pakistan has been blessed with abundant water resources, however, “excessive use of the resource has became our habit.”
“Since there is no incentive, there is no saving of water and we will continue to waste it carelessly,” he said, adding that water conservation is not the sole duty of the government, but is a collective responsibility of the society.
He said management recovery cost of the country’s irrigation system stands at 20 percent only, while rest of the expenditures to run the system have to be borne by the government. The quantum of water, pumped through the tube-well that costs three thousand rupees, is provided to the farmers for just eighty five rupees with the help of irrigation system, he said.
There is no dearth and enough water is available to meet not only the existing but also the future requirements if used judiciously, he added.
The minister said as much as 30 million acre feet of water flows downstream of Kotri Barrage/annum on an average, revealing that the provinces have consumed 11-33 percent less water of their shares since 1993 as per record of the IRSA.
He emphasized that there should be a national plan for use of water and its conservation including lining
Asif lauded the efforts made by WAPDA for creating awareness about water conservation by holding essay-writing and poster-making competitions among the students across the country.
Earlier, WAPDA chairman, addressing the seminar, highlighted the importance of water and emphasized upon its conservation. He said WAPDA will vigorously pursue the aim of creating awareness for water conservation and will not only hold competitions among youth on regular basis but also engage young generation to serve as its ambassadors to disseminate the WAPDA’s message for water conservation in their areas of influence effectively.
He said that per capita water availability in the country has decreased by 80 percent since 1951 due to rapid growth in population and depleting water storage capacity of the reservoirs because of sedimentation. He further said that the country will have to face a lot of problems if the required steps are not taken.
The chairman said that WAPDA has completed a number of water storage projects namely Raised Mangla, Mirani, Sabakzai, Satpara, Gomal Zam and Darawat dams, while construction work on Nai Gaj Dam is in progress.
He apprised the audience that the bid for construction of Kurram Tangi Dam has been opened, whereas detailed engineering design of multi-purpose Mohmand Dam is in process.
He said WAPDA and the Ministry of Water and Power are working on an innovative plan to arrange finances for construction of Diamer Basha Dam Project and the proposal will soon be submitted to the Prime Minister for approval.
Eminent experts of water sector also presented their papers on water conservation in the seminar.