Report revealed Pakistan’s incapacity to store water worth $22 billion and dumping it into the sea annually
ISLAMABAD: Recently, a report revealed Pakistan’s incapacity to store water worth $22 billion and dumping it into the sea annually. The report released by the Indus River System Authority stated that the country has no national water policy. With that being the case, there is no point in having federal and provincial ministries for water resources. Keeping aside the ever-present water threat from India, the centre has failed to resolve the disputes among the provinces over water issues. This means that the plans for water conservation and building of dams will never see the light of day. Unfortunately, an issue of national importance has always been dealt with at provincial levels with no proper and satisfying outcomes being reached.
Considering such an alarming situation, it is important that the government should endeavour to ensure regular water supply for irrigation and for the rapidly increasing population. Water policy should coincide with the foreign policy, particularly towards India, Afghanistan and China as any shift in the current state of relations with them will definitely leave its impact on the water resource sharing arrangement as well. With unusual rain spells and drastically reduced monsoon rains, not just the water but the agriculture policy also needs to be revised. While countries across the world are making use of technology to turn saline water into drinkable water, taking measures ahead of the alarming state of the water resources globally, the fact of water being dumped into the sea in massive quantity only shows the failure of Pakistan’s governments that continue to engage in political affairs that mostly revolve around only securing their rule for future terms.
Zaid Abdullah
Published in The Express Tribune, November 6th, 2017.
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