Speakers demand better handling of country’s waters

Awards for humanitarian and social services were given during the seminar.

KARACHI: The Constitution should be amended so that access to clean drinking water is declared a basic human right, suggested Punjab Governor Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar.

Sarwar was speaking at a seminar on ‘Water and Energy’, organised by the Human Rights Group of Pakistan (HRGP) at Movenpick hotel on Wednesday evening. He said that it is unfortunate that, even after 67 years of independence, over half of the country does not have access to clean drinking water and that its hospitals are flooded with patients suffering from waterborne diseases.

“The elite of this country have never-ending ambitions, while the greatest ambition of the poor is to be able to get two meals a day and enough money to bear the expenses of their child’s education and health,” said Sarwar. “It is vital that we provide these basic needs to the people of the country. In Punjab, we have launched an initiative, ‘Clean Water - Save a Child’, to deliver clean and safe drinking water to school children. This initiative should be introduced in all provinces.”

On the theme of the seminar, ‘Human Faces of Business’, Sarwar claimed that the power crisis and security issues are the main setbacks to the country’s industries. He praised the resilience of industrialists for surviving despite the challenges. “There is no power to run industries, the law and order situation is poor and other problems also exist,” he said. “Despite all this, the wheels of our industries keep on turning. Businessmen are creating jobs and wealth for the country.”

Danish Ambassador Jesper M Sorensen said, “Although there is no direct support for the water and sanitation sector in Pakistan, Denmark is aiming to promote partnerships between the companies of the two countries to solve the issues.”

Speaking on the water crisis that plagues the country, Pak Oasis Industries chairperson Saleem Abbas Jillani was critical of the way the resource is being handled by the authorities. “Every year, a lot of water is allowed to run into the sea from downstream Kotri in the monsoon season, which is a glaring waste of such a precious national resource,” said Jillani, who suggested storing and preserving rainwater as a possible solution to the crisis.

In 2011, the desert of Tharparkar was flooded with water but today not a drop can be seen in the area, said UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs’ Sindh head Dr Salman Safdar. “This situation calls for proper storage, preservation and management of water,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 28^th, 2014.