Senate body discusses fair water distribution among provinces

ISLAMABAD: Senate’s Special Committee on Water Scarcity Wednesday discussed problems arising out of distribution of water of Indus River according to satisfaction of provinces besides considering strategies for better utilization of water resources.

Maula Bux Chandio, convener of the committee and members, were briefed from officers of the Ministry of Water Resources and members of Indus River System Authority (IRSA) in a bid to come up with recommendations to address the problem of water shortages in provinces.

Senator Sassui Palijo, a member of Pakistan Peoples Party, raised the issue of water shortages in Sindh during the Kharif season.

The province was hit with problems of drought, desertification and sea intrusion, she noted.

The Indus Water Accord of 1991 should be implemented in a way that overcomes water shortages for agriculture sector in Sindh.

Federal Secretary Water Resources Shamail Ahmad Khawaja in his briefing, told that for the first time a national water policy in consensus with the provinces was announced in June this year.

The policy, he told, contained clear cut targets with timeliness to improve water management and adopt conservation strategies.

He said a committee headed by Attorney General of Pakistan was constituted to prepare recommendations in 30 days and put them before the Council of Common Interests to resolve issue of water distribution among provinces.

He said it was a myth that Pakistan did not have enough water as 138 million acres feet of water flows in its rivers every year, however the shortages occur due to lack of management.

In 1947, 5600 cubic meter water per person was available in a year but now it dropped to 908 cubic meter per person per annum due to huge increase in population, he said adding 95 percent of water was allocated for agricultural purposes while three percent and two percent was used by domestic and industrial consumers respectively, he said.

On a query about setting up of desalination plants for harnessing sea water resources, the Secretary told that it was expensive to desalinate water and was done only in countries facing acute dearth of water.

Pakistan has abundant fresh and ground water resources and could fulfill its needs by utilizing conservation methods and smart agriculture.

Senator Sherry Rehman expressed concern over decrease in allocation for water projects in Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP).

The water scarcity was a national security issue as it was harming the livelihood of farmers, she said adding that water of Indus river was not reaching many areas of Sindh and Balochistan.

Senator Muhammad Akram pointed out that no drinking water was being provided from the desalination plant in Gwadar as the project was abandoned.

The Committee was told that 34 small dams were built in Sindh.