‘47pc Pakistanis have access to potable water’

Islamabad: Director General (Water Quality), Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR) Dr Hifza Rasheed while presenting comprehensive national overview Pakistan’s per-capita freshwater availability has revealed that it plummeted from 5,260 m³ in 1951 to below 1,000 m³ in 2024, officially placing the country in the “water-scarce” category.

Dr Hifza was speaking at a seminar on “The thirst for safety: water quality and public health in Pakistan” organised by Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE) here at Quaid-i-Azam University Campus.

Dr Hifza said that agriculture consumes about 93 percent of available freshwater, yet irrigation efficiency remains only around 40 percent due to seepage and outdated systems. She added that over 1.3 million tubewells are operating in Punjab alone, with groundwater extraction now averaging 50 million acre-feet annually, causing severe depletion -- depths reached 600 to 1,200 feet in parts of Baluchistan and Islamabad. She said that PCRWR monitoring shows that only 47 percent of Pakistan’s population currently has access to safe drinking water, a modest rise from 39 percent in 2022, but still far from the SDG 6.1 goal of universal access by 2030.

She warned that unsafe water causes to an estimated 53,000 child deaths every year and contributes to Pakistan’s high rates of stunting -- nearly 44 percent of children nationwide. Industrial waste, pesticides, and untreated sewage are polluting surface and groundwater, with arsenic levels dangerously high across southern Punjab and Sindh. Water quality in the Eastern Rivers (Ravi and Sutlej) sharply deteriorated due to transboundary pollution and unchecked industrial discharges. Only 38 percent of domestic wastewater in Pakistan is effectively treated and the country ranks among the top 10 nations globally with the largest population lacking access to safe water

Dr Hifza also highlighted Pakistan’s vulnerability to climate change noting that it ranks fifth among the world’s most water-insecure countries and faces a projected 3-6 °C temperature rise by the end of the century.

The recent floods caused an estimated $14.9 billion in damages and $15.2 billion in economic losses, exacerbating water contamination and disease outbreaks. PCRWR responded with mobile and solar-powered water-treatment units in flood-hit areas, contributing to cholera prevention and relief operations. She stressed that for every $1 invested in water and sanitation, the return is $4.3 through reduced healthcare costs and improved productivity, while Pakistan currently loses $93 billion annually due to unsafe water and inefficiencies in the water sector.

Despite incremental progress, Pakistan must accelerate efforts seven-fold to achieve the SDG targets for safe and affordable drinking water by 2030. Dr. Hifza attributed the slow pace to coordination challenges, fragmented policies, weak enforcement and a lack of financial sustainability in water-supply models.