‘Country can overcome water scarcity by storing rainwater’

FAISALABAD: Global expert in water management and former Vice Chancellor of Barani University Dr Rai Niaz Monday said Pakistan had vast opportunities to overcome water scarcity by storing water of rain and flood, but due to lack of practical measures millions of acre feet of water goes to waste every year.

According to the Indus River Systems Authority (IRSA), Pakistan's rivers receive 134 million acre feet of water each year from glacier melting, snowfall and rainfall, but we have the capacity to store only 10 percent of available water.

In other parts of the world, the rate is more than 40 per cent. According to water experts, if water scarcity is not overcome, by 2025, Pakistan will be among the countries suffering from water scarcity.

According to Dr Rai Niaz if the Department of Agriculture and other federal and provincial departments work together, a revolution in the agricultural sector could be brought in a short period of time. He suggested construction of small ponds in rural areas to store rainwater for agricultural purposes.

He said by storing rainwater in this way, besides meeting the irrigation requirements for crops, the level and quality of ground water could also be improved. He said if water is stored in every five acres of agricultural land by constructing a pond of two to three kanals, it will increase the fertility of the land and increase production. "These ponds can be fished and vegetables can be planted on the sides," he said.

He said in the past 'flood drains' were constructed to divert rain water to the rivers immediately but now control drains need to be constructed to recharge the ground water by stopping the water at short distances.

Dr Niaz said ponds could be built along the canals to prevent rainwater from being wasted. In case of floods, canal or rain water can be collected in these ponds and used for irrigation in addition to fishing in days of drought or closure of canals.