Management of water must to avert economic erosion: FPCCI

KARACHI: Pakistan urgently needed an efficient water management policy complemented by a firm political will for its effective execution so that wastage-related losses worth billions of rupees could be prevented from eroding the economy, an industry official said on Friday.

“Lack of water reservoirs has already caused over a trillion dollars’ loss to the country’s economy during past 30 years,” Ahmad Jawad, regional chairman, Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce & Industry’s (FPCCI) Horticulture Committee, said in a statement.

“The situation manifests itself in the form of varied deficiencies and repeated episodes of water shortage for agrarian, industrial as well as domestic purposes.”

Terming the mismanagement of water and inadequate storage as the fast emerging threats to the country’s agriculture sector, Jawad said construction of Diamer Bhasha Dam was mandatory to maintain the necessary reserves of the essential commodity.

He said the country was annually faced with an easily avoidable loss of Rs25 billion due to lack of water storage facilities. “Pakistan has to go for viable projects after every ten years in order to conserve massive flow of water resulting from fast melting glaciers,” the FPCCI official said.

Jawad regretted that Pakistanis as a nation are overindulgent when it comes to the value of water management – whether for drinking, farming, controlling floods, improving environment or generating cheap power.

“Despite being potentially the richest nation in the subcontinent, the country, since independence, had been unable to protect water in its river channels,” he said adding, this led the neighbours to overstep their bounds, sparking disputes in an already heated arena.

He said Pakistan was generating just half a dollar from one cubic meter of water compared to the world’s average of $8. “In some cases, such as that of Japan, the number inflates to an incredible $30,” Jawad said.

He suggested that three more mega dams including Bhasha dam, Kalabagh dam and a general storage dam somewhere up north could help all parts of the country to get rid of the problems faced due to water shortage.

“Currently, the country has only 61 dams but it needs no less than 200 small and medium-sized dams to meet its water and energy demand,” the apex business body's office bearer said.