‘Country is at risk of water scarcity’

Islamabad: Pakistan’s per capita water availability has gone down five times since 1951 and the country is at risk of water scarcity and is among the 36 most water-stressed countries in the world. There is a need of Integrated Land and Water Resources Development approach.

These remarks were shared by the experts at the seminar on ‘Climate Change: Water Scarcity Challenges & Its Solution’ that was held here on Monday. The Riphah Institute of Public Policy a constituent Institute of Riphah International University and Al-Khidmat Foundation Pakistan organised the seminar with a view to mobilise and ensure the engagement of societies i.e. Governmental Water institution, National and International NGOs, and academia by placing a common platform to put forward best efforts and solutions to strengthen the water resource management system. The seminar was addressed by; Prof. Dr. Anis Ahmad, VC Riphah, Syed Ehsan Ullah Waqas, VP AKFP, Dr. Ashfaq Ahmad, DG PCRWR, Dr. Ghulam Rasool, Director General Meteorological Dept, Dr. Majeed, IUCN, Experts from UNICEF, Qatar Charity, ECO Science Foundation, HHRD, Muslim Aid, Centre for Climate Research& Development.

The experts believed that the key factors contributing to water crisis are supply driven approach, rapid increase in population, low water-usage efficiency, an extremely water-intensive economy and poor management of water resources, low storage capacity and absence of a national water policy.

The experts were of the opinion that there is an urgent need for the political will to address the challenges associated with water which has a higher impact on Pakistan’s GDP as the country is the world’s fourth-highest water-usage rate which signifies that productivity/efficiency is the lowest in the world. The sustainable water resources development can only be achieved when the subject will be dealt through scientific approach instead political one.