Minister on drafting guidelines for implementation of National Water Policy

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Water Resources on Wednesday called for drafting guidelines for an implementation plan of the National Water Policy considering the prevalent conditions of water scarcity in the country.

Barrister Syed Ali Zafar, Federal Minister for Water Resources while addressing the first meeting of the National Water Taskforce, advised all the experts to come up with their well-prepared suggestions to draw a roadmap with the purpose to better address country’s valuable water issues, within the guidance of National Water Policy.

This consultative meeting was jointly organised by the Ministry of Water Resources and Federal Flood Commission in collaboration with UNESCO here which aimed to draft roadmap for implementation of National Water Policy in order to facilitate early implementation of the Policy. This Policy was approved by the Council of Common Interests (CCI) earlier this year.

Chair of the National Taskforce on Water Dr. Shahbaz Khan, Director, UNESCO Regional Science Bureau for Asia and the Pacific, presented key points of the draft roadmap to the minster.

He pointed out that dams and artificial recharge of aquifers are urgently needed but increased water storage capacity of Pakistan cannot solve the problem alone. There must be a focus on improved governance, trans-boundary data availability and more extensive water losses analysis is needed to confirm seasonal water loss, availability and requirements on provincial basis.

He presented a three Pillar, 10-year Draft Plan for a Water Secure Pakistan. Those three pillars include water infrastructure (dams and artificial recharge of aquifers), governance according to 21st century water management standards, and technology for water resilience & water efficiency.

The minister issued directions to constitute a high-level National Taskforce to prepare roadmap for water secure Pakistan as the country has become a water stressed state, as per capita annual water availability dropped from 5,260 cubic meters in 1947 to less than 10,00 cubic meters in 2018.

This consultation meeting was attended by the high-level officials of water sector government departments and academia having vast experience in water sector.