Only water option

This letter refers to the articles ‘A nearly dead delta’ (April 18, 2025) by Masood Lohar and ‘Water wounds in the federation’ (April 18, 2025) by Barrister Zamir Ghumro. Pakistan’s water availability has fallen down to 850 cubic metres per person, nearing the ‘absolute water scarcity line’. How did we reach this point without alarm bells ringing? According to some recommendations, Pakistan should have built a major dam every 10 years.

Current water storage is just 25–30 million acre-feet – far below the international standard of 120 days’ capacity. The Soan Dam is the only viable, cost-effective option to boost water storage in Pakistan. Once built, it could store up to 10 times more water than the Tarbela Dam, as per some estimates. This would significantly alleviate Sindh’s water shortages and revive freshwater and silt flow to the Indus Delta.

Syed Hussein El-Edroos

Islamabad