Water scarcity

Letter July 02, 2021
This precious commodity is getting scarce across the world

KARACHI:

Water is life. But this precious commodity is getting scarce across the world. Therefore the humans need to do whatever they can to save it. Unfortunately, we in Pakistan are doing nothing in this direction. According to a report, about 30 million acre feet of water is wasted every year in Pakistan. This speaks of our irresponsible behaviour and careless attitude towards the most essential commodity for human beings. We cannot afford to continue wasting water — and that too at this immeasurable scale.

According to the Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources, Pakistan had touched the “water stress line” in 1990 and the “water scarcity line” in 2005; and if there is no intervention, the country may face mass droughts by the year 2025. The government needs to increase its water-storage capacity which is just about 10 per cent currently.

The successive governments have made promises of constructing dams and water-storage reservoirs but they have yet to make even a small bit of progress towards this end. Some plans have been made this time too. Let’s hope they are implemented seriously. In the meantime, the authorities must take steps to save water and arrange for its recycling.

Iqra Karim

Kech Turbat

Published in The Express Tribune, July 3rd, 2021.

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