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Thursday March 28, 2024

Federal, provincial govts agree on national water policy

By Muhammad Saleh Zaafir
April 25, 2018

ISLAMABAD: In a historic step, the federal and provincial governments have agreed on national water policy and all five governments have inked the agreed document here on Tuesday called as “Pakistan Water Charter” with prime minister taking the lead role.

With this the whole country has developed a consensus for actions to cater the future needs of water. The agreement has exceptional significance in the wake of imminent threat of water scarcity in near future.

Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi along with four chief ministers signed the charter, pledging commitment to the National Water Policy. Prime Minister Abbasi chaired the 37th meeting of the Council of Common Interest (CCI) at the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). Chief Minister Punjab Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif, Chief Minister Sindh Syed Murad Ali Shah, Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pervez Khattak, Chief Minister Balochistan Abdul Quddus Bizenjo, federal ministers Professor Ahsan Iqbal, Sardar Farooq Ahmad Khan Leghari, Adviser to the Prime Minister Miftah Ismail and senior officials attended the meeting.

Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission Sartaj Aziz briefed the CCI on the draft National Water Policy (NWP) of Pakistan. He informed that the policy has been prepared after consultation with all the major stakeholders and a national level consultative seminar was also held to reach a consensus. Proposals presented in the 36th CCI meeting have also been incorporated in the policy. He briefed about the salient features of the NWP, including water uses and allocation of priorities, integrated planning for development and use of water

resources, environmental integrity of the Basin, impact of climate change, trans-boundary water sharing, irrigated and rain-fed agriculture, drinking water and sanitation, hydropower, industry, ground water, water rights and obligations, sustainable water infrastructure, water related hazards, quality management, awareness and research, conservation measures, legal framework and capacity building of water sector institutions.

The CCI was briefed that implementation of NWP will be undertaken through a national level body namely “National Water Council” (NWC) to be chaired by the prime minister and comprising of federal ministers for Water Resources; Finance; Power; Planning Development & Reforms and all provincial chief ministers as members.

The NWC shall oversee the implementation of NWP and a Steering Committee, headed by federal minister for water resources, will monitor the implementation with representatives from federal and provincial governments and concerned departments. The CCI appreciated the efforts of Planning Commission of Pakistan and the Ministry of Water Resources and unanimously approved the first ever National Water Policy of Pakistan.

The government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa presented a brief on implementation of Kazi Committee Methodology (KCM) for calculation of Net Hydel Profits (NHP). After detailed deliberations, the CCI directed Ministry of Inter-Provincial Coordination, Planning Commission of Pakistan and Ministry of Water Resources to reconcile the claims in consultation with the provinces and resubmit the issue for decision in the next CCI meeting.