Dehydrated country

The scarcity of water has taken a heavy toll on the country. Across the country, the unavailability of clean and drinking water has badly affected the lives of the people. The severe shortage of water, especially in slums and underdeveloped areas, is causing great damage to the poor as they have no water available for carrying out essential daily chores such as cooking. Moreover, they don’t have the availability of drinking water. As a result, they often consume dirty water. This causes serious health problems and even death.

On the other hand, areas with sufficient water supply have poor pipelines that cause leakage which results in heavy wastage of water. Pakistan has the largest contiguous irrigation system in the world. However, owing to the poor state of infrastructure, about two-third is lost. This means that about 68 MAF is potentially usable water if the canal system is adequately repaired and maintained. Only if the irrigation system gets renovated, this water shortage could be overcome at least to an extent that people get enough water for their daily use. Second, a collective approach is needed. Individuals and corporate citizens must engage with decision-makers across the board regarding rational and responsible use of water. Industries, agricultural industries and corporations must move to pollution control, micro-irrigation, recycling and reuse of water on large-scale.

Mehwish Mazhar

Karachi