The scarcity of clean drinking water and inadequacy of irrigation water are frightening issues for those who have sincerity, to envisage and observe the consequences at large. Pakistan is rapidly heading towards unmanageable water crises. In the contemporary scenario, many nations of third-world countries are facing water scarcity in general. In contrast, in the case of Pakistan, we are experiencing some serious corollaries in particular.
Probably in the decade of Eighties, Pakistan was categorised as a water resourceful country, now owing to our incapacitated attitude, we have become a water-deficient country among the global nations. A 2022 report of PIDE (Pakistan Institute of Development Economics) shows that in the world ranking, India ranks at 8th, Bangladesh ranks at 12th position, whereas Pakistan ranks at 36th level, it is surmised if some appropriate initiatives are not taken to improve the situation will be further deteriorated in the next few years.
Nevertheless, it is unfortunate that our 40 percent compatriots who dwell in the urban areas are not only facing drinking water crises, but the rest of 60 percent of our rural inhabitants have entirely no access to safety clean drinking water, in addition to that the formers are facing an extremely dearth of irrigation water across the country. A reliable report reveals that, owing to severe climate change patterns, on one side the rising temperature and long droughts like situation is causing the rapid evaporation of glaciers, while on other side untimely torrential rains creates flooding situation which become not only serious threats both the urban and rural habitants rather it devastating an extensive fertile crop land in rural and some time crashing every thing falling on their path the residential areas of metropolitans and towns.
The global statistic indicated that rapid environmental degradation and ecological imbalances have a financial and life-threatening impact on two-thirds of the entire world’s population. In short, it discerns that in addition to a great number of the human population living in rural areas and another large number of people residing in the cities of urban areas, particularly among them a great number of the population of third-world countries around the world are already facing an acute scarcity of safety clean drinking water and of course paucity of irrigation water.
Besides the facts discussed later, a large area of arable land has already been transformed into moorland due to the alleviation of irrigation water resources and the remaining a visible area of the fertile agricultural land annihilated by the untimely flood waters. It is also anticipated that such a situation will worsen further in the years to come. It came to the knowledge of this writer that apart from plenty of other reasons, the adoption of old and erroneous irrigation methods is also one of the substantial causes of water wastage.
Chemical-contaminated water by the industries, including human waste sewage water, thrown into the rivers and canals without treatment, is another significant, alarming and serious issue for human health in the present circumstances. The geographic placement of Pakistan is on the lower riparian flow, therefore the optimum quantities of water inflows from our contiguous country India, which is recognised as our rival country. It is hoodoo that this has become a routine practice of Indian authorities to defy the “Sindh Taas Treaty” and utilise maximum irrigation water in their part.
According to another report of the PIDE, for irrigation purposes currently Pakistan is barely in the position to obtain benefit from two-thirds of its available water resources, while one-third of its irrigation water is diminished by being frittered away amid its flow and remaining water discharge into the ocean.
One of the most important cities of Pakistan, the Federal Capital, which is an appropriate paradigm to present for the scarcity of safe clean drinking water to its inhabitants. moreover, it was learned that despite the approval of a waste water treatment plant located near Kahuta industrial triangle some five decades back but in reality, the water treatment plant perceives nowhere around the area located for the purpose. Indeed, this is an absolute deficiency of the CDA administration that they failed to accomplish a very important project well in time and even does not care about throwing sewage and chemical contaminated water into the above said river for the last many decades.
Around the ambit areas of the federal capital, an abundance of legal and illegal housing societies developed by the dominant classes is an another tortuous issue. it is a tale of woe that among all of them even a single housing society is not being emerged with having their indigenous water reservoir to provide clean and safety hygienic water to their residents rather rest of these housing societies are entirely dependent upon under ground water resources.
Albeit, most of the predominant developers of these housing schemes easily succeeded to obtain permission without a proper scrutiny of the authorities of CDA & RDA including all other development authorities of the country across. Whereas it was duty of the authorities to keep check and balance by ensuring the implementation of the rules and regulations of the country, which strictly binds them to construct their indigenous drinking water reservoirs and follow other essential obligations in their part before developing their housing projects.
Now it is time to give a wake-up call to these concerned authorities, prior to it become enough late, ought to be changed their attitude, relinquish the incapacitated style of working, earnestly formulate an expedient modus operandi to deter the unbridled usage of underground water resources. Indeed, otherwise it perceives that the clean drinking water disaster is very close to knock on the door, and after this opportunity, there will be no solution left with them to control the rising issue of clean drinking water. we expect that managers of the system may be aware of this fact that some twenty to thirty years back, even in the outskirts areas of Islamabad, the ground water was normally available at a depth of 45 to 50 feet, owing to incapability of system these managers, currently it went down to the level of 150 to 600 feet and incessantly it going down at the rate of 12 to 25ft per annum. Let’s all of us particularly the concern individuals promise to take serious initiatives to save the resources of our country for the prosperity of our posterity.
