Shrinking Indus

The 6th International Conference on Earth Science Pakistan was recently held at the Baragali Summer Campus of the University of Peshawar. Among the many topics in this three-day conference was the water crisis in Pakistan, particularly in the urban areas and Balochistan. Many scientists were emphasizing the scarcity issue but I made the point that it was rather water mismanagement that was the main issue. How can we have destruction from extreme floods during the monsoon and water scarcity during the rest of the year? The answer is mismanagement.

Pakistan is a “gamble on the Indus”. The glaciers that recharge the Indus River are retreating, how do we plan on securing our water supply for the next 50 years? Our irrigation system might be one of the largest in the world but it is very inefficient. The groundwater reserves are under high stress, they take a decade to replenish but only a few tube wells to deplete. It is high time that we understand the gravity of the issue and start to devise ways to counter the biggest threat to the existence of Pakistan.

Musa Abubakr

Islamabad