t the university hostel, I woke up in the morning and saw a student standing in front of a washbasin. The tap was running; he was a few feet away from the tap brushing his teeth.

We reside on a planet known as water planet. Human beings settled near lakes and rivers for easy access to water. Historically, having access to water amidst war was an unbeatable advantage because water played a decisive role.

As time passed, civilized societies progressed in terms of technology. The world population has increased manifolds. Thus, the demand for water has increased over time. The realisation of the need for safe water is not an alien debate. The stronger a country is economically, the more prosperous its citizens shall be.

In the coming years, according to experts, the number of dams in a country will be an indirect indicator of its economy. The people of a country will have prosperous lives if they have more (fresh) water. Apart from other nations, every Pakistani possesses the potential to comprehend the worth of freshwater.

Humans can survive without food, perhaps for some time, but it is impossible to imagine survival without water. The people of Karachi, Gwadar and Quetta are facing severe problems due to water scarcity. In search of water, people have migrated from their hometowns to new locations in some regions of Balochistan.

Every secondary school-going child in Pakistan studies in their science books that about 71 percent of the earth’s surface is covered with water. The five oceans contain 96.5 percent of the total water on earth. However, water in oceans is highly saline, making it unfit for drinking and using directly.

Pakistan has already been declared a water-stressed country. Seventy percent of the people in rural areas lack access to safe drinking water. Water has been described as ‘blue gold’. Therefore, it is understandable to assess the direct proportion of people’s (happy) lives vis-à-vis the availability of water in any part of the world.

Water is very important for a country that depends on agriculture. To cash in on lucrative products – which contribute to the exports of a nation, water plays a pivotal role in boosting the agricultural sector of a country like Pakistan.

Pakistan has already been declared a water-stressed country. Seventy percent of its people in rural areas lack safe drinking water. 

Globally, only 3 percent of the total water is fresh; humans can consume it directly for various purposes. 2.5 percent of freshwater is available in locked form meaning that it is in the form of glaciers, ice caps and the atmosphere.

With more than seven thousand glaciers in the country, Pakistan ranks first for having the greatest number of glaciers. With that number, citizens ought to be happy. But owing to the melting of glaciers, that happiness appears unsustainable.

The country’s water problem is exacerbating every day. Many people suffer economically because the production of fruits, e.g., grapes and apples, has decreased. Many farmers have lost their farming lands because of depleting groundwater. Near the capital city of Balochistan, Quetta, the groundwater level has gone down to more than 1,000 feet.

In addition to the losses mentioned above, groundwater depletion is imposing harmful effects on the strength and life of building structures. Since the base of a building is connected to the hard soil via the foundation, the depletion of groundwater results in a new arrangement of the soil upon which the foundation is laid. The new arrangement is different from the original design.

According to new research, excessive tubewell operation causes aquifer degradation. Not only does water quantity decrease because of this it also results in a lowering of the water level. The provision of solar tube wells by local politicians might resolve the water issue for a short period. Nevertheless, such provisions will leave a lasting negative impact on the next generation.

In Cape Town, South Africa, for instance, water scarcity has resulted in droughts and famine. Unlike countries in Africa, Pakistan is lucky to receive regular monsoon rains. The country receives 145 MAF (Million Acre Feet) water, yet only 13.7 MAF is in its reservoirs and dams.

No water means no life; that is a universal adage. As per the World Health Organisation, 2.1 billion people wake up every day without having access to clean water. More than five hundred thousand children die from preventable diseases due to unsafe water.

To survive in the coming years, Pakistan should be water sufficient. In comparison to the rest of the world, this country can survive for 30 days with the current water resources. These periods are 200 and 900 days for India and the US, respectively.

Pakistan has few dams. Resolving the water issue and getting the country out of the water crisis requires a collective approach. All the political parties must be on the same page to solve such problems. There has been no uniform approach to handle this issue hitherto.

It is wise to deal with the water crisis efficiently and immediately. The government should help the farmers adopt techniques like drip irrigation and sprinkling. According to the National Water Policy 2018, 10 percent of the national public sector developing programme will be reserved for water infrastructure.

The writer is a final semester civil engineering student at UET, Taxila. He can be reached at dawoodkhan0666@gmail.com