‘Pakistan must manage it’s water better’
The over 3,000-km-long Indus river is a lifeline for several farming and fishing communities in Pakistan. But this delta has been dying a slow death as the construction of dams for irrigation and power has choked off much of the fresh water supply. PHOTO: FILE
Water management is one of the biggest issues that Pakistan has been facing in recent decades. At the moment, the country's water storage capacity is close to 10 per cent, which is very low compared to the world, where the average is about 40 per cent'
This was stated by Prime Minister's Special Assistant for Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam in a virtual dialogue on Recharge Pakistan, a 30-year programme focusing on building the country's resilience to climate change through ecosystem-based adaptations for integrated flood risk management.
The event was joined by government officials as well as national and international experts from WWF.
Malik Amin Aslam also said that Recharge Pakistan is one of the government's priority programmes that encompasses nature-based solutions. He added that glaciers melting in the north coincide with monsoons in the southern part of the country, coming together to create floods and super floods which damage infrastructure and cause devastating economic loss.
He expressed his concerns that this water is not utilised properly nor is it adequately stored. He added that there are 14 wetlands on the left and right banks of the Indus and these sites, although being close to this mass of water, have been degraded due to pollution and other anthropogenic factors.
He emphasised the need to use this water to restore wetlands and allow them to recharge groundwater aquifers that are being depleted.
"We have decided to put government finances behind this initiative and this year, we will be planning for at least Rs1 billion to be spent to focus on two or three pilot sites," he remarked.
The Ministry of Climate Change (MoCC), in collaboration with the Ministry of Water Resources (Federal Flood Commission) and WWF-Pakistan, will be implementing different initiatives related to flood water management and climate change mitigation under this programme. The programme will address imminent and emerging environmental challenges the country faces such as super floods, droughts, widespread rains, among others, and will focus on building climate resilience for the most vulnerable communities living in the Indus Basin. The programme consists of three phases and each phase spans over a period of ten years. This long-term project envisions that by 2050, ecosystem-based adaptation contributes towards better climate resilience, water and food security, and sustainable livelihoods. More than 10 million people, which makes around five per cent of Pakistan's population, will directly benefit from the project, while 20 million people across 50 vulnerable districts of Pakistan will be indirect beneficiaries.
Recharge Pakistan programme will be implemented in selected sites, spanning over a stretch of 1,300 km of the Indus River, across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, Balochistan and Sindh. These sites will be selected based on flood risks, climate projections, water storage, recharge potential, and the needs of the communities.
Speaking on the occasion, WWF Pakistan Director General Hammad Naqi Khan said that in the last two decades, Pakistan has faced serious climatic events and incidents of widespread rains. He said super floods are increasing in intensity and frequency in the Indus Basin, resulting in serious humanitarian and economic repercussions.
He added that overall, changes in climatic conditions are impacting the populations of diverse animals and plants in the region, as well as livelihoods. He emphasised that to address the issues of floodwater and climate change, integrated flood risk management is now a key national priority and added that this project proposes to undertake ecosystem-based adaptation measures that will store flood water in wetlands, floodplains and depressions (green infrastructure) at several priority sites along the project area.
Recharge Pakistan contributes to the relevant policies and commitments, including the National Climate Change Policy, National Flood Protection Plan IV, National Water Policy, and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It will lead to additional water reservoir capacity in the river systems to regulate water discharges during high floods and will promote local rainwater harvesting and development of small storages on the run of the rivers during peak flows.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 11h, 2021.