With urbanisation in Pakistan expected to increase up to 42.8% in 2020 and to 63.7% by 2050, access to safe drinking water will decline further in coming decades, according to a report by the Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR)
PCRWR spokesperson Lubna Naheed said that keeping in view the deteriorating water quality situation, the council initiated water quality assessment and management programmes in the country.
Naheed said water quality monitoring revealed that the access to safe drinking water is only 15 per cent in urban and 18 per cent in rural areas.
With the present growth rate of 1.56 per cent, the country’s population is expected to double by 2050. The increase in population and urbanisation will have a direct impact on domestic, industrial and agricultural water needs.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 18th, 2012.
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