FAISALABAD City News

‘Deteriorating groundwater quality

posing hazards to people’s health’

From Our Correspondent

FAISALABAD: The deteriorating groundwater quality is not only damaging the agricultural productivity but also posing hazards to the people’s health, said University of Agriculture Faisalabad Vice-Chancellor Dr Iqrar Ahmad Khan.

He was talking to Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa) Managing Director Zahid Aziz in his chamber. He said that underground water in huge quantity was being pumped out due to increasing trend of tube-wells that was an area of concern. He said that 1.2 million tube-wells were operating in the province, which was aggravating the issue. He recommended including a topic relating to water use in school textbooks as a part of curriculum. He said that rapid population growth, unplanned urbanisation and unsustainable water consumption practices had placed immense stress on water resources. In Australia, rainwater harvesting model was adopted that may be replicated in Pakistan, he added. He called for sensitising the people about the rational use of water.

Speaking on the occasion, Zahid Aziz said that all-out efforts were being made to address the issue in the city. He said that arsenic level in groundwater must not be more than 10 micro gram per litre but in Lahore and other places it had touched to 50 micro gram per litre. He stressed the need to come up with the viable solution to the issue. In order to ensure provision of potable water to the people, they had started sale of water at the nominal prices, he added.

It was decided in the meeting that the UAF and the Wasa would collaborate in water analysis, recycling and recharge to face the challenges of water quality and scarcity that had engulfed the country.

Later, the UAF VC and the Wasa MD signed a memorandum of understanding of laying a Wasa line on the UAF premises situated on Jail Road. Registrar Muhammad Hussain, Treasurer Umer Saeed Qadri and others also attended the meeting.