challenges relating to decreasing water table and its deteriorating quality. He said Bahawalpur and surrounding areas are ranked top in the category of unfit groundwater for human consumption, besides dwindling level of water table. People have become a victim of waterborne diseases due to arsenic and other pollutants.
Durrani said adverse effects of water shortage have also been found in an official study on “Trend in Groundwater Level & Overview of Groundwater Quality”. As per the study, conducted by Directorate of Land Reclamation of Punjab Irrigation Department in 2012, 77% of Bahawalnagar water is not fit for human consumption while 57% of Bahawalpur, 59% of Sahiwal, 46% of Rahim Yar Khan has not been found suitable for human consumption.
Groundwater in most of Cholistan areas is also not fit for drinking, he said and added that people have to rely only on canal water or ponds replenished by rainwater. You will frequently find human and animal drinking water from canals and ponds also known as tobas alike. The worst affected areas include Fort Abbas, Haroonabad in Bahawalnagar district, Darawar Fort, Bajnot, Rukanpur and Maujgarh in Bahawalpur district, Mithra, Islamgarh in the Rahim Yar Khan district.
About the Indus Basin Treaty and its impact on the inhabitants of Bahawalpur, Durrani stressed the need for take up drying of Sutlej River with India for at least seeking environmental flows. He accused India of violating the UN Convention for International Watercourses. The articles 7, 10, 20, 21, 22 and 23 clearly prohibited any country from completely stopping course of river. India is violating these provisions by not releasing single drop of water from Ferozpur Headworks towards Pakistan through Sutlej River.
He said Bahawalpur is 24% area of all canal irrigated area of the Punjab province. Bahawalpur and surrounding areas must be given preference in provision of canal water, he demanded. The extended canal network in these border districts can be used for fortifying defence in this otherwise sensitive area by developing populated areas in addition to creating a physical obstacle at borderline, Durrani said.