ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan Sunday said that the water conservation policies of his government were yielding fruit as Punjab had stopped the depletion of Lahore’s underground water level for the first time in more than four decades.
“Our water conservation policies showing results. [Chief Minister Usman Buzdar]-led Punjab government has stopped fall in Lahore’s groundwater for [the] first time since 1980,” the prime minister said in a tweet.
Our water conservation policies showing results – @UsmanAKBuzdar-led Punjab govt has stopped fall in Lahore’s Groundwater for first time since 1980 thru effective water recycling policies, new aquifer charges, underground rain storage, timed well pumping & other targeted actions. pic.twitter.com/mPwzodabqU
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) June 20, 2021
He said the depletion has been controlled through recycling policies, new aquifer charges, underground rainwater storage, well-timed pumping and other targeted measures.
Imran also shared the statistics showing minimum water level at 5.7 meters and maximum at 15.96 meters in 1980 which fell to 8.18 meters minimum and 23.33 meters maximum in 1990 and further to 11.94 meters and 32 meters in 2000.
The water table stopped depleting in 2018 and stood at 23 meters minimum and 50 meters maximum ever since.
Faced with fast-depleting groundwater supplies, the Punjab government began rationing water and instituting a range of new conservation measures in October 2018.
WWF researchers noted in 2017 that the water table in the centre of the city is now 130 feet (40 meters) down and is expected to fall below 230 feet (70 meters) by 2025.
“If the trend continues the situation will become even worse by 2040,” they had predicted.
To try to avoid a crisis, Water and Sanitation Agency also began turning off the provincial capital’s 700,000 water connections 12 out of each 24 hours.
Users now get water only from approximately 4:00 am to 9:00 am, noon to 2:00 pm and 5:00 pm to 10:00 pm.
The water agency also increased water tariffs by about 20 percent for households and about 400 percent for commercial users.
Previously, water prices had been frozen since 2004.
