By: Salahuddin Bhutto
Pakistan
has one of the largest canal irrigation systems in the world, ironically, the
country lacks an effective water management system. The per capita availability
of water, has dropped to 1000 cubic meters, from 5650 cubic meters, per person,
since inception. This study aimed to identify the causes and consequences of
water shortage in Pakistan and suggests they ways to cope water crisis. The
research identified three sets of issue are responsible for present water
crisis. First is, irregular rain falls due to climate change, secondly, high
handedness of the eastern and western neighbors over international water
reservoir regulations. Lastly, domestic causes such as inadequate water storage
infrastructure, political conspiracies against the construction of new dams, deteriorating
condition of existing irrigation system, extravagant use of water, by
agriculturists, industrialists, and households, and the widely accepted norm of
dumping waste into water. Such a situation has unfolded complex challenges of
food shortage, energy crisis and climate security. Government needs to act on
war footing basis, to deal with this non-traditional security threat of economic
water scarcity, comprising of diverse initiatives. First, a bilateral or a
multilateral dialogue, with the neighboring states of India and Afghanistan is
needed to settle down the cross-border water dispute. Secondly, there is need to develop a national
level consensus, between provinces of Pakistan, for the construction of new
dams. Thirdly, existing infrastructure for water storage should be renovated, to
avoid huge water losses through leakage and seepage.
Keywords: Water Scarcity, IRSA, Indus Water Treaty,
World Bank, Kalabagh Dam
INTRODUCTION
Water
is an essential commodity for sustaining life on the earth, without which we
can not even imagine survival. It is used in drinking, cultivating crops and
manufacturing industrial goods therefore no other thing can either replace or
fulfill our water needs. Although, abundant water (70%) is available on earth’s
surface but all is not useable. Approximately, 97% of earth’s water compartments
are oceans which are highly saline in nature while only 2.5% of water is fresh
available in rivers, streams and lakes. Viewing fresh water’s scarce quantity
and its socio-economic importance nations have had always fought wars over its
distribution (Khalid & Begum, 2013).
Presently,
water issue at global level has many fronts such as, increasing pressure on
usage of water due to growing population, shrinking of global water reservoirs
due to infrequent rainfalls as a result of climate change, cross-border water
conflicts, mismanagement of water resources at national level and poor water
storage infrastructure. As per the report of International Monitory Fund (IMF)
June, 2015 Saharan African (SSA) countries, South Asia, Middle East, Europe and
Central Asia have low per capita water supply on average. According to this
report, three sets of water issues are faced by these regions: 1) Subsidies or
lack of metering 2) Infrastructure issue and water management, and 3) Cross
Boarder Coordination issues.
Pakistan
has one of the largest canal irrigation systems in the world namely Indus Basin
Irrigation System (IBIS) having size approximately 56,073 Km which is
irrigating area of 14.87 million hectares (FAO, 2011) and ironically, the
country lacks an effective water management system. The per capita availability
of water, has dropped to 1000 cubic meters, from 5650 cubic meters, per person,
during the last five decades (Asad, 2016). Such a situation has unfolded
complex challenges of food shortage, energy crisis and climate security (GOP,
2012). It is viewed that changes in the water flow in Indus Basin Irrigation
system (IBIS) are critical and have significant impact on country’s economy and
particularly agriculture production which is heavily dependent on IBIS flows
(Qureshi, 2011).
Problem
statement
Agriculture sector is
largest water consumer and it holds the 20% weight of the country’s Gross
Domestic Product (Kundi, 2017). According to Rana (2019) The present water
crisis is costing government and nation a loss of 4% in Gross Domestic Product
(GDP) annually. This means if the water crisis in Pakistan persists for next
five years there will be 20% loss to country’s fragile economy, in other words the
5 year’s economic loss will be equal to 1 year’s agricultural contribution of
GDP on average. This is a critical situation for country like Pakistan whose
economic dependence is mainly on agriculture. Additionally, Pakistan has
capacity of producing about 60,000 MW electricity from water resources but the
installed capacity is just only 6481 MW (30% of country’s energy mix) (WEC,
2019). This is mainly due to inadequate water infrastructure. Thus, country’s
energy sector, which is responsible for industrial growth, is also at decline
stage. According to economic survey of Pakistan (2017), energy crisis
especially electricity and
gas shortage to industries badly impact on
overall all production level of industries. Akram (2018) reported that
indigenous energy can be the key to sustained growth.
No study has recently
been conducted to assess the massive impact of water shortage on Pakistani
economy and its physical security from the non-traditional security threats
like water shortage and droughts. Therefore, this study aims to explore the causes
and consequences of water shortage in Pakistan and tries to suggest the durable
solution against persistent water issue to achieve economic prosperity and
national unity.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Source
of water in Pakistan
Pakistan
has mainly two sources of water. First, ground
water which is available in 1600 Km long Indus plain from Himalayan to
Arabian Sea. Pakistan is as of now
taking out 50 MAF from underground aquifers — this has officially crossed the
practical furthest reaches of safe yield. Groundwater is used for
agricultural, domestic primarily for drinking, and industrial purposes (Kamal,
2009) it is extracted trough pumps, tube wells and dug wells. Pakistan’s
consumption of ground water has increased due to increasing population and unavailability
of surface water which is only available from seasonal inflows of Indus river
and its tributaries. The quality of
ground water is not same everywhere in the country, Raza et. al., (2017)
reported that more than 85% of water sources in the country has water quality
below the standards recommended for human consumption. Interestingly the
country lacks the mechanized institution for monitoring the level and quality
of the ground water.
Second
source of water in Pakistan is surface
water which is available from the mighty 2000 miles long Indus River and its
tributaries Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas and the Sutlej (Khalid & Begum,
2013). Indus Basin River System (IBIS) carries approximately 145 million-acre
feet (MAF) water annually and feeds 207.7 million people of Pakistan across
796,096 square kilometers from Kashmir to Karachi. The surface water in country is channeled
through 56,000 Km long canal irrigation system consisting of infrastructure of
dams, barrages, water feeders and streams. However, present surface water
supply in country is insufficient viewing increasing number of populations and
dependence on seasonal flows of IBIS. Demand of water is expected to reach to 274
MAF while the supply will be 191 MAF by year 2025 (IMF, 2015) creating a water
deficit about 83 MAF. Ironically, country’s
main water reservoirs capacity stands around 13.8 MAF (Pakistan Today, 2018). Table
1. Shows the water infrastructure which is under development to store huge
water which is wasted due to inadequate capacity. Even after construction of
all these dams the storage capacity will be insufficient compared to volume of
water which is wasted.
Table
1. Priority Dam Projects in Pakistan
Water Crisis in Pakistan: Main Causes
According to a report by
the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Pakistan positions third on the planet
among nations confronting intense water deficiency (IMF, 2015). Reports by the
United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the Pakistan Council of Research
in Water Resources (PCRWR) additionally caution the experts that the South
Asian nation will reach a total water shortage by 2025.
Pakistan is on eighth
position, with a loss of 523.1 lives every year and economic misfortunes worth
US $ 3.8 billion — proportionate to 0.605 percent of the GDP in the multiyear
time span. Amid this time, Pakistan had experienced 141 extraordinary climate
occasions — let it be violent winds, storms, floods, Glacial Lake Outburst
Floods (GLOFs) and heatwaves, and so forth. In a year ago's long haul file
(1996 to 2017 average), Pakistan held the equivalent eighth position (Eckstein,
Hutfils & Winges, 2019).
Causes of Water Crisis in Pakistan
Trans-boundary water issue with India
Ever
since Pakistan came into existence, water has been a root cause of disputes
with India. Pakistan
faces tremendous constraints and water management issues with her. Deciding
on “playing by the rules” lead to negotiations, and Indus water treaty was signed
in 1960, with World Bank as guarantor. Despite the fact that Indo-Pak relations
have become colder with every passing day, the Indus Water Treaty of 1960, is
still considered valid and also considered as a model for water disputes.
History
has it that India violated the treaty several times. In 1984, Wullar Barrage
was constructed on river Jehlum, and Baghliar Dam, in the IOK, was constructed
on river Chenab. India and Pakistan are reliant on the waters of Kashmir for
their farming, hydropower, water system, route and civilization sustenance.
Kashmir is a massive benefactor of hydropower to the two countries, our eastern
neighbor plans to generate 22,000 Megawatts of electricity from the occupied
Kashmir and has already left Pakistan behind in constructing dams (Gupta, 2019).
Pakistan
addressed the World Bank to help stop the construction of Baglihar Dam, to
which the World Bank responded by allowing India to continue with the venture,
but didn’t license the agreed water quota to Pakistan. Considering this an
opportunity to make a notorious move, India made several irregularities when
constructing hydro power projects on western tributaries, namely Kishanganga
and Ratle (DAWN, 2018). A 330 MW
hydropower station was inaugurated by Indian Prime Minister - Narendera Modi,
on 19th of May 2018, called the Kishanganga Dam, which was a
violation of the Indus Water Treaty and a threat to Pakistan’s inflow of waters
(Akmali, 2018).
Earlier,
India threatened to isolate Pakistan on the international level and then
claimed it would stop the flow of water into the country. Nitin Gadkari, the
Minister of Water Resources in India, said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi
had taken the decision to block the water flow to Pakistan (Gettleman, 2019).
Trans-boundary water issue with
Afghanistan
Being
India’s “friend of utility”, Afghanistan is its active ally and seeks to cause
distress in Pakistan with the same enthusiasm, ignoring the fact that Pakistan
has been providing refuge to 1.3 million Afghanis for the past 20 years (UNHCR Pakistan,
2019).
Drought
conditions in Afghanistan, global change in climate, and increasing population
near the Kabul river, are the major concerns for Afghanistan in the current
scenario. The solution to these concerns is building new infrastructure.
Afghanistan plans to build 12 dams on Kabul river
(Hessami, 2018), and India is not only providing technical support to the
country, but is also ready to invest in their project. Giving birth to “water
war”, India plans to make Pakistan a sandwich between water aggression from
both sides. The unignorable fact regarding Afghan-Pak water relations is that
Afghanistan has already constructed a few dams with American assistance, and
now the World Bank is ready to provide around $8 million to Afghanistan for the
construction of water management infrastructure (Bhatti, 2018). These dams are
expected to generate 2400 megawatts of electricity for Afghanistan and their
construction has already drastically reduced the water flow to Pakistan by 50% (Dawn,
2018).
Even though, Pakistan has already constructed
Warsak dam on the river, coming from Afghanistan. Kabul river irrigates 80% of
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s agri-cultivations for nine months a year, and 60% of
Noshera’s population, along with 85% of Charsadda’s population depends on it (Majidyar, 2018).
It's nothing unexpected, that in the district of
Chahar Asiab in Kabul, on a tributary of the Kabul River, the Maidan, work is
booked to start soon on the Shahtoot Dam. The dam will hold 146 million cubic
meters of consumable water for 2 million Kabul inhabitants and flood 4,000
hectares of land. It will likewise give drinking water to another city on the
edges of Kabul called "Deh Sabz". After years of war, Afghanistan is
in a situation to build up its economy and electricity from hydropower.
The previous political leadership of Pakistan has
been taking the situation in a very lenient manner and now the situation has
worsened, leaving Pakistan with no other option but to work on war footing
grounds and construct new water management infrastructure along with
maintaining the existing ones.
The biggest zone of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa area
lies around the rivers of Swat and Kabul. Construction of Dam on Kabul river by
Afghanistan may make gigantic live water stockpiles upstream, empowering it to
temper with the stream of water to bring down riparian Pakistan. This will
cause a shortage of water, along these lines unfavorably influencing Pakistan's
agri-economy. Regardless of the World Bank and USAID supporting the possibility
of Pakistan and Afghanistan marking an arrangement in 2006, and the US Congress
issuing a report, on how water shortage could fuel unsafe pressures, in 2011,
the issue remains without a solution (Hassan & Awan, 2018).
Kalabagh dam controversy
The plausibility of the Kalabagh dam isn't the
issue, on the grounds that the administrative work and other critical insights
concerning water stockpiling and power projects over the Indus river, at
Kalabagh, were prepared a very long time ago. Tragically, the construction of
Kalabagh dam lacks consensus among provinces. Three out of four provinces of
the country express reservations against the construction of this dam and have
also passed resolutions against it in their respective assemblies (Khalid &
Begum, 2013)
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa believes that Noshera will be
submerged under water if this dam is developed, Sindh believes that
construction of this dam would leave the province dry due to less or no
availability of water, and Baluchistan usually stands out of the matter by
showing little concern to this national cause. Punjab is the only province that
supports the idea for the development of Kalabagh dam, as it anticipates the
facilitation of power deficiencies and the accessibility of more water for
farming. With such solid reservations, it has been fairly incomprehensible for
any government, since 1984 to continue with the development of Kalabagh dam,
and this dam has been considered a threat to national unity and integrity.
In the event that the dam isn't developed, at
that point Pakistan will confront a significantly progressive extreme emergency
of high fuel costs. On the other hand, (if constructed) energy produced by
Kalabagh dam would be equivalent to 20 million barrels of oil (Tariq, 2018).Water wastage due to poor infrastructure
Aside from the water stockpiling issue, specialists state that water
wastage is additionally a major issue in the nation. The bungle happens at
numerous dimensions, main are two. Water leakage and seepage by broken
irrigation system and annual water drain to sea. This trouble can to a great extent be
bifurcated into issues of value and amount. Presently, due to inadequate water
storage infrastructure and siltation of dams about 38 MAF is wasted to sea
annually while 52 MAF is wasted by unlined canal irrigation system (Khalid
& Begum, 2013). According to Indus River System Authority (IRSA), value of
water dumbed to sea annually is $ 21 billion (Guramani, 2017). The water coming
into our frameworks over the previous decades hasn't changed much. In any case,
need has taken off because of an exponential increase in populace. Existing
repositories' stockpiling limit can't continue this populace blast while its
ability has likewise been diminished throughout the years (Abubakar, 2019). As
the water emergency exacerbates in Pakistan, outside negotiators and activists
have taken to web-based social networking, asking individuals to spare water. Martin
Kobler, German representative to Pakistan tweeted:
"Using
a bucket to save water while washing my car! #Pakistan ranks third amongst
countries facing water shortage. One major reason is excessive use. 100 liters
wasted washing a car with running tap water. Many ways to #SaveWater in our
daily life! #SaveWaterforPak,"
Climate change
Beside dependence on inflows of Indus, monsoon rains are the secondary
source of water supply in the country. It is estimated that country’s 85% percent
river inflows are coming from snow or glacial melt (IMF, 2015) while remaining
water is available from average 255 mm rainfalls during monsoon season. Interestingly,
yearly river inflows and seasonal rainfalls both coincides in the months from
June to September. Pakistan receive an adequate rainfall in specific months
such as in monsoon season however, most of the water is wasted due to lack of
rainwater storing system (Chandio, 2012).
The volume of rainfall varies all across Pakistan, northern Punjab
receives the maximum while areas of Sindh and Baluchistan receives minimum
rain. According to Pakistan Metrological Department (PMD), Pakistan received
half rainfall (approx. 47% reduction in volume) on average in month of August
2018 than the 2017. Punjab saw just 9% decline in annual rainfall while Sindh
witnessed massive decline of 87% on average. It had been predicted long ago
that Pakistan will be water scared country due to infrequent rainfalls as a
result of climate changes (Pomeranz, 2013).
Poor water-governance
Indus Water System Authority (IRSA) was established in year 1993 by the
parliament to regulate and monitor the distribution of available water
resources between and among provinces of Pakistan as per water apportionment accord,
1991. However, amidst scares seasonal inflows and hydro-politics by provinces IRSA
is unable to implement the accord and govern water management according to set
criterion.
Table. 2 Shows the water apportionment accord 1991.
 |
Water Apportionment Accord 1991 |
The IRSA, practically, is unable to distribute
water according to traditional rules in which people on downstream has right to
use required water first. The accord of 1991 is never achieved because its
implementation has failed due insufficient water availability as result
slitting up of existing reservoirs and also because huge water is wasted in
leakage and seepage (Khalid & Begum, 2013).
The water issue in Pakistan is also getting worse
as IRSA is potentially weak to take action against mismanagement of water
against either province. Punjab province is taking undue water share from Indus
river through Chama-Jhelum and Tonsa-Punjnand link canals. Sindh province is
stealing Baluchistan’s water from Pat-Feeder canal. While, Khyber Pukhtune (KP)
is unable to recover its water royalties from Punjab and federal government. In
all case, authority is helpless to govern water management effectively.
Water
Crisis in Pakistan: It’s Impacts
Pakistan’s massive water crisis has huge harmful
impacts on the Agri-Industrial economy, health of people and ecosystem of the
country. Presently, Pakistan ranks 36 in world among most water stressed
countries. But, the situation of water crisis is getting worse day by day because
of continuous and enormous population growth. It is estimated that by 2025 per
capita water availability in country will be well below 800 cubic meters which is
against world required standards of per capita water availability. The next
section presents detailed analysis of impacts of water crisis on the national
economy, people and ecosystem of the country.
Impacts
on economy
Pakistan is getting repetitively influenced from extraordinary
climate change both for the time being and long run. The floods of 2010 put
Pakistan on the very top of the list of nations most affected by environmental
change as it lost US $25.3 billion and 5.4 percent of the GDP (Eckstein et al.,
2019). After, 2010 the government did not work seriously to improve water
infrastructure to avoid such huge losses in coming time. At present still 4% of
GDP losses are caused by poor water sanitation, floods and droughts this makes
$12 billion per year economic loss to country (Rana, 2019). These water losses
do not include the potential economic losses incurred as result of dumping of
38 MAF water to sea which worth around additional $ 21 billion annual
loss.
- Agricultural and
Livestock losses
Agriculture sector is direct victim of water
shortages. Due to seasonal inflows and changes in weather cycles agriculture
suffers the most. often, unpredictable water inflows get uncontrolled because
of huge rain and international inflows thus all crops are washed away by floods
like in 2010 and 2012. In other case, when water is short lands of Sindh and
Baluchistan get barren. In either case, agroeconomic of the country faces huge setbacks.
Asad (2016) reported that Pakistan faces
significant reduction in the cash crops production such as maize, cotton,
wheat, sugarcane, and rice. The longer droughts and competition over limited
resources has also caused the approx. 30 per cent decline in production of
livestock as both humans and animals need food and water for the survival. Since,
livestock is highest contributor of total 20% GDP produced by agriculture; thus,
decline in production of livestock is actually reduction of agricultural
contribution towards economy. Dehydrated grasslands have directly affected
grazing of livestock which results in their malnutrition and subsequently
lowered milk and meat production. Viewing the growing population, it is
estimated that agriculture sector will need additional 10 MAF water by 2025
than its present needs thus its likely “adding insult to injury”.
The industrial sector of Pakistan which is also
among top contributors of economy also suffers huge losses due to water
shortages. Presently, about a half million small, medium and large industries
are operating in Pakistan theirs water requirement to continue their
manufacturing activities are increasing gradually. Currently Industry uses 3.5
MAF of water which is projected to go up to 4.8 MAF by 2025. Thus, additional,
1.3 MAF of water will be required to complete industrial water needs (Water
Planning Commission Plan, 2013-2018).
Water shortages affects industry
in two ways. 1) Unavailability water my hinder the plant processing activities,
and 2) Interrupted and inadequate hydel power causes shutting down of manufacturing
plants permanently or bear the loss due inconsistent operations because of load
shedding. A report on project The
Vulnerability of Pakistan’s Water Sector to the Impacts of Climate Change (Asad, 2016) noted that
“Indus basin water flows also play a critical role in……. supporting the country’s
energy production, manufacturing and industrial processes”. There is mutual consensus among scholars that
energy shortages in Pakistan badly affects the industry and commerce (Chandio,
2012).
Pakistan has huge
hydropower production capacity however, it is not fully utilized viewing poor
water management infrastructure. The country can go up to producing about 60000
megawatts of hydro energy from Indus water flow system, however, current hydro
power production capacity just stands around approx. 7320 megawatts as of 2016.
Viewing that much capacity Pakistan can be a strong water economy (Kundi, 2017)
presently the federal government has launched program for hydropower
development and produce up to 17-20 thousand megawatts from water but the
construction of the small and medium dams to provide fresh water is jeopardized
by the hydro politics at federal and provincial level (Raza et al., 2017). Therefore,
it will take about three decades (till, 2047) to government of Pakistan, if it
continues to construct required dams and other hydro power generation
infrastructure with the same pace (Rana, 2019) till country’s industries and
households have to face load shedding amidst growing number of populations.
Impact on people and their health
Because water is
essential for sustaining life, its shortage has heavily influenced the life of
common people. There are multiple effects of both – the water shortage and -
the unsafe drinking water on the health and life being of people all across
Pakistan. If the issue of fresh water shortage is not ruled out soon it may
lead to civil war among people. Such a war like situation over the water
distribution can largely and clearly be seen at provincial level (Khalid &
Begum, 2013).
At present the municipal
water withdrawal is increasing immensely and will reach 7.15 billion m3 in 2030
calculated by (Parry, 2016). Moreover, all the available fresh water is not
safe and clean. Half of the population is drinking dirty water (Raza et al.,
2017) due which people are suffering from diarrhea, typhoid, and hepatitis
mainly in remote areas of Baluchistan and Sindh. The drought conditions compel
residents to use contaminated water for growing crops and vegetables on it. This
practice is common in big cities of Pakistan where wide open lands and fresh
water are not available for the irrigation, thus vendors are unable to meet the
supply of fresh vegetables and fruits because of masses of population.
Impact on ecosystem
A World Bank report, Pakistan's Hotspots — The
Impact of Temperature and Precipitation Changes on Living Standards, claims
that by 2050, yearly normal temperatures are anticipated to increment to 2.5°C
under the atmosphere and up 3.0°C under the carbon. Roughly 49 million, or 25
percent of Pakistan's all out populace, lives in areas that will progress
toward becoming 'moderate hotspots' by 2050 under the carbon escalated
situation. Containing the temperature is fundamental to keep real regions of
Pakistan from getting to be appalling in a future not very far away (Sheikh, 2019).
Due to climate changes
such as rising temperature, infrequent rainfalls, floods and water shortages
ecosystem in Pakistan has completely disturbed. The glacial melting along with
frequent rains in northern part of country and droughts in south has changed
the ecology. The quality and quantity of water both are affected. Bates et al.,
(2008) reported that floods will affect quality of water as metals, sediments,
and organic pollutants mixes up with the natural water and causes surface water
pollution. As opposite to it, droughts in South (Sindh and Baluchistan) has
converted once fertile lands in to forest and the timing of crop production and
harvesting have completely changed.
Due to insufficient water
supply to sea, life of people living around delta has been sullen. The sea
water has already engulfed 100 km land and increased salination. Thus, people living
there have started migrating to urban areas because of change in their
agriculture and fishing patterns. Moreover, mangroves trees which only grows on
fresh water has also been endangered. These trees, work as first defense line
against flood caused by sea or river, are depleted by 38% just in thirteen
years from 1977-1990. Thus, people in delta are threatened by changing
ecosystem (Khalid & Begum, 2013).
SUGGESTIONS TO OVERCOME WATER ISSUE
Based on above mentioned
detail analysis of causes and consequences of water shortage in Pakistan
following suggestions are made to develop a long-term comprehensive water
management policy.
Trans-boundary water issue with Afghanistan should be solved.
State level especial hydro-dialogue should be initiated to stop them
constructing additional dams on Kabul river. The root cause of the water issue
is that, there is no Pak-Afghan bargain on the sharing and utilization of water
from River Kabul, similar to the Indus Waters Treaty among India and Pakistan
on the utilization of water from the Indus water framework (Malik,
2019). Afghan government can be convinced by offering them a serious and
tangible support to deal with non-state actors on their land. Because for over
decades people of Afghanistan are yearning for peace, a genuine effort by
Pakistani side to bring them peace will help Pakistan to solve water issue with
them. Water threat by Afghanistan to our country is more lethal than
traditional threat. Afghanistan
is trying to get out of the failed American invasion and the “recent peace
talks” are a proof that the landlocked country may start to get back on its
feet with a new political leadership. Considering this situation, Afghan new
political leadership needs to take appropriate steps for harmony to prevail in
the country, and water crisis should be one of its top priority.
In 1960, the
World Bank expedited the Indus Water Treaty (IWT) that gives Pakistan selective
rights to utilize the area's western waterways — Indus, Jhelum and Chenab —
while India has the authority on more than three eastern streams. However, New
Delhi isn't satisfying its obligations under the IWT rather building the
Kishangaga hydroelectric plant in the north of Bandipore in India-regulated
Jammu and Kashmir area. Pakistan and India need to implement already
established regulations to avoid water conflict. In this regard Pakistan has
already moved many times toward the World Bank whining that India abused the
IWT by structure the dam on a Jehlum River bowl, which it lays guarantee on
(Baloch, 2019). Pakistan should use
South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) and other regional as
well as international forums to develop a ‘Regional Water Regulating Authority’
(RWRA) and involve guarantors so that both parties abide laws set by RWRA.
Pakistan need
to establish water infrastructure such as dams on war footing basis to avoid
huge water economics loss. A national level consensus is needed to construct
national asset like Kalabagh Dam. The dam will serve both purposes the –
hydropower purpose with its capacity of producing 3600 megawatts and the –
water saving purpose by which 35 MAF water can be saved in case of heavy rains.
With its massive storage capacity about 8 million acres barren land can be
cultivated. There is need to educate the people about potential of Kalabagh dam
against small dams. However, not to dis-harm national integration over construction
of small dams would also be viable option.
The nation already divided over award of National Finance Commission
(NFC), military role, and federal taxation issues cannot sustain more division
on construction of dams.
The present
water infrastructure should be renovated to avoid huge water leakage and
seepage issue. For this purpose, allocated budget in Public Sector Development
Program (PSDP) for the said projects should be doubled or projects can be
financed on traditional and innovate methods of financing through the
involvement of private sector. The public private partnership can be preferred
as mode of financing.
Mismanagement
of water should be controlled at the industrial, agricultural and domestic
levels. The government is already considering to put water tariffs on
industries there is need to start water metering system for farmers and
households. Agriculture sector uses 85% of all available water resources of the
country however, its contribution to national GDP is just 20%. There is need to
charge water tariffs from agricultural lands or at least agricultural profits
should be charged with meager amount of tax. The recovered amount of money can
be reinvested in hydro projects. Additionally, household water metering should
be started to control misuse of water at domestic level.
Conclusion
The Pakistani experts need to venture up endeavors to defeat the water
emergency, which is incompletely man-made. "As a matter of first
importance, Pakistan's pioneers and partners need to take responsibility for
test and proclaim their goal to handle it. Just accusing past governments, or
censuring India, for the emergency won't explain anything. Next, the
administration needs to found a noteworthy change in perspective that advances
progressively sensible utilization of water.
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