Pakistan third amongst countries facing water shortages

Islamabad: The UN has declared that access to clean water and sanitation is a fundamental human right but still many countries in the world are lacking with the facility of clean drinking water. Water scarcity has become a universal issue but it is certainly alarming for Pakistan. Pakistan ranks third amongst countries facing water shortages, according to an International Monetary Fund (IMF) report whereas it is declared as one of the top 10 countries with the lowest access to clean water, says a press release.

Support for the human right to water has been steadily growing in recent years. The human right to water entitles everyone to sufficient, safe, acceptable, physically accessible, and affordable water for personal and domestic use. Climate change is bringing droughts and heat waves across the globe, as well as floods and sea level rises. The depletion of those aquifers can also make the remaining water more saline. Fertilisers leaching nitrates into the supplies can also make water unsuitable for drinking or irrigation. Sustainable development goal six from the UN concerns water, stating that safe water and sanitation should be provided to all by 2030 by emulating this particular goal COPAIR has come forward with an approach of dealing with the worse and to turn it better.

A campaign has been launched by COPAIR to disseminate the basic information regarding the imperative necessity of clean drinking water. Following the campaign a pilot project to prepare feasibility report in Sargodha division has also been launched along with preparing a research publication.