LAHORE: Central leader of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Dr Yasmin Rashid has said Pakistan is combating a serious water issue but the government is not taking measures to handle it. In a statement issued on Wednesday, Dr Yasmin Rashid, also a ticket holder of PTI from NA-120, said the prime minister was busy having public appearances at inauguration of incomplete projects.
She stated that Pakistan’s water policy did not exist and key policy makers were acting like ‘absentee landlords’ of water in Pakistan. Because of this absentee landlordism, water has become the property of landlords and the poor are deprived of their share, she added.
“National Water Policy” should be approved which provides policy guidelines for suitable management of water resources, adding that the provinces should develop their own strategies within the framework of the national water policy, she demanded. She also stated that a committee should be formed to protect the Indus Water Treaty from violation by India and this committee should be answerable to parliament.
She added that the rainfall is neither sufficient nor regular, to meet the growing needs of water. The surface water resources of Pakistan mainly consist of flows of the Indus River and its tributaries, which bring in about 138 million acre feet (MAF) of water annually, which are now being controlled by India, she added. Citing the report of the United Nations, she said the UN had categorised Pakistan among those few unfortunate countries where water shortage could threaten its existence in the next 10 years. According to the report by UNDP in December 2016, that per capita designed live water storage capacity available in Pakistan is 121 cubic meters per person which is only higher than that of Ethiopia.
Dr Yasmin stated that Pakistan’s water profile had changed drastically from being a water abundant country to one experiencing water stress. Increasing demand for water and its erratic supply together are resulting in water shortage. Pakistan requires an increase of 14.2 percent in water availability to meet the requirement of population by 2025; however, the growing burden on water resources threats will add to Pakistan’s well-being from unsafe or inadequate water supplies, she said. She also said that water security as Pakistan’s most critical development challenge, between 1990 and 2025, water availability had declined from 2,172 to 1,306 cubic metres per inhabitant.
The dwindling resource of water has already made Pakistan a water scarce country comparable to countries like Ethiopia we are already in the red zone on the world water map. River Indus is the lifeline of Pakistan. The Indus River which is our main source of water for agriculture and domestic is being blocked India’s violation of Indus Basin Treaty. India by abrogating the treaty can devastate Pakistan by floods or droughts.
Baltore Glacier which is the largest ice mass in the world and main supply of sweet water to River Indus is fast dwindling due to global warming. It is estimated that by year 2050, it might totally vanish. Recently, we lost our case in the International Court of Arbitration on diversion of water from Kishanganga River to generate power on the Indian side. This will adversely affect the generation capacity of the Jhelum Hydroelectric Project by 13 percent.