Water crisis has become a nightmare and crippling droughts are predicted. The issue of water scarcity has turned into a global crisis. As a matter of fact, population and economies are on the incrementally upward trajectory, demanding more water but supply of water is imperiled by climate change, water waste and pollution.
Pakistan is water stressed and the country third most affected in the world by an acute water shortage. This dire situation is really troublesome. It is really alarming that half of the world’s population is facing huge water scarcity. The water resource group reiterated that “the gap between water demand and supply will be 40 percent by 2030 in the world”. Only 36 percent of population has access to safe drinking water. Given the importance of water and growing shortage of water, The United Nation adopted a resolution to celebrate March 22 as world water day to emphasis the significance of water and its usage. The theme of 2025 has been set as “Glacier Preservation”, as meltwater is a pivotal source of fresh water. The awareness about the significance of freshwater is essential to avert the burgeoning global water crisis and ensuring a comprehensive water management system. “Safe water is a basic human right”, said Sanjay wijesekera; UNICEF Chief for South Asia.
Water scarcity is a horrible menace for the world that requires concerted efforts to overcome the issue through adopting water preservation policies. Water scarcity refers to shortage of water resources to meet the needs of population and environment. Further, water crisis denotes that the available fresh water within a region is less than that region’s demand for a living system”. There are multiple causes of perpetual water shortage problem. The most important are increasing global warming resulting in climate change, abject poverty, conflicts and disputes among states, rickety infrastructure, population explosion, lower-than-usual annual rainfall, rapid urbanization, resource intensive economic development, contamination of local water supplies, water pollution, over-usage of ground water, poor and unsustainable water management practices, deforestation, hydro-hegemony of certain states, trans-boundary water disputes, iniquitous water distribution and natural disasters including droughts and floods are the redoubtable causes of water shortage at the global level. Moreover, dependence on the single Indus river system as it accounts for 95.8 percent of total renewable water resources of Pakistan. The pressing fact for profound concern is that three-fourths (78 percent) of water resources in Pakistan are coming from outside.
Nevertheless, the building of new dams cannot be ignored. Given the alarming water crisis situation, procrastination would prove a death-knell. There is a dire need to set right the internal maladministration. For that purpose, sustainable water management is a perennial process, taking into account of ecological, economic and social functions through the whole river basin
The affects of water scarcity are drastic, ranging from government regulations on water usage, increased water costs to increased food costs. Further, there are myriad of challenges that are profligate in the use of water. Pakistan is an agrarian country, relying on water for better harvest. It is estimated that Pakistan’s per capita annual water need will rise to 274 million acre feet by the end of 2025 while the resources remain the same at 191 MAF. Moreover, as per statistics of IMF, Pakistan has become the 3rd most affected country in terms of water resources depletion. The continuing alarming water scarcity might have drastic result in terms of geopolitical, geoeconomic and ecological affects. The encouraging factor is that Pakistan has a long range of laciers which feed the river system in Pakistan. According to Indus River System Authority, Pakistan has the capacity of only 30 days to store water.
Pakistan is not immune to this havoc of water crisis. Worryingly, the country has transitioned into water stressed from water-scarce status. The main water source of Pakistan is the Indus River Basin. It is really alarming that annual water availability has fallen down less than 1000 Cubic Meters per person. The disturbing fact is that it is less than the prescribed threshold. In the same vein, we evaluate that water is essential for food production. Agriculture depends upon on the water resources and droughts wreak havoc on the production of crops and grains. Experts have shown their concern that till 2040; availability of water will be reduced to about 500 cubic eters per capita per annum in Pakistan. When we apportion the water availability of Earth, we find that oceans constitute 97 percent and three percent is fresh water. Further, within this three percent, 70 percent consists of frozen water available in ice caps and Glaciers and 29 percent is groundwater (utilized through pumping) and the remaining one percent is accessible fresh water. This one percent of accessible fresh water includes 01 percent rivers, 53 percent lakes, 38 percent soil moisture, 01 percent water vapor and 01 percent surface water.
There are different sources of water including natural sourcse of water which are ponds, rain, streams, seas, lakes, rivers and man-made sources of water which contains reservoirs, canals, tubewells, hand pumps, taps and wells. Water withdrawal characterizes fresh water taken from ground or surface water source, whether on temporary basis or permanent, and it impacts a lot in the phenomenon of water scarcity predicaments. The repercussions of water scarcity are galore, such as ecosystem disruption, biodiversity loss and climate change. There is a dire need to review the environmental consequences to set right the shoddy situation.
Water pollution costs Pakistan an estimated 3.9 percent of its GDP annually, causing health problems and economic loss. Moreover, social and economic impacts including Human health hazards, economic strain and rampant social inequities are the outcomes of a haphazard water policy. Water pollutants are other potential snags in developing a better ecosystem. In order to save the reservoirs and dams in Pakistan, it is essential to build the Diamer –Bhasha dam. This large scale dam project will definitely help in saving the flood water.
However, there is a dire need to adopt smart irrigation methods to save waters and discourage the use of groundwater, especially through tubewells. In Pakistan, the Tarbela and Mangla dams are the only dams to save the rain and floodwater. Already, United Nation Development programme (UNDP) and Pakistan Council of Research in water resources (PCRWR) have warned about absolute water depletion, frequent floods and droughts if essential remedial measures are not taken to save the water from depletion. In order to overcome the water crisis, national consensus and unfaltering political will re needed, and outstanding disputes about Kishenganga and Baglihar Dam should be settled down.
Nevertheless, the building of new dams cannot be ignored. Given the alarming water crisis situation, procrastination would prove a death-knell. There is a dire need to set right the internal maladministration. For that purpose, sustainable water management is a perennial process, taking into account of ecological, economic and social functions through the whole river basin.
