Water for all

Water scarcity is turning into an existential crisis for mankind. The One-Water Summit held in Riyadh was on the mark as it helped address the necessity and provision of a basic amenity of life in a pertinent manner by pooling in data and expertise over the issue from across the globe. With climate change impacting global environment and wars and disasters further pushing the planet Earth towards extinction, it's time to address water sustainability in a comprehensive and apolitical manner without any prejudice to continents, national borders, race and religion. Pakistan pushed the envelope in a more eloquent manner as PM Shehbaz Sharif, addressing the UNCCD COP16, said water stands out as a crucial element for economic development, food security and environmental sustainability.

It is a bitter fact that a commodity that the Almighty created for all is rationed, and stands monopolised in the midst of nation-state diatribes. That is why nearly half of the world's population experiences water scarcity, at least, in some part of the year. Moreover, billions of people lack access to clean drinking water as water contamination is on the rise. Underground water-tables are also falling, causing drought and depletion of forests. While COP29 believes that a Marshal Plan of $300 billion per annum is a must to check climate change ramifications, nothing to this day has been done on addressing unavailability of water to people in Africa and Asia. It is also a truth that the next war in the volatile Middle East might be fought over water as Jordan, Israel and other regional Arab states scramble for it in power politics.

Pakistan too is a victim of the water crisis as it is a lower riparian state of River Indus. Likewise, the hegemonic designs of India as it controls the channels of water flow into Pakistan puts it in jeopardy at times. Last but not least, more than 22 million Pakistanis, almost 10% of the population, do not have access to potable water. Water availability can only be better addressed by touch-basing on ecosystems and devising policies on modern technology without limiting to state-centrism.