PESHAWAR: Highly vulnerable to climate change vulnerabilities, Pakistan was also facing a looming threat to an ecological and socioeconomic balances besides shortage of water resources owing to rising of temperature and fast melting of glaciers, affecting people.
The rise of global temperatures and greenhouses gas emissions have put Pakistan under a heightening risk of disasters, including heatwaves, droughts, floods, and melting glaciers.
“Pakistan is highly susceptible to climate change- induced weather patterns including rising temperatures, unpredictable rains and floods besides fast melting of glaciers in Gilgit Baltistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa that could be tackled through whopping plantation,” said Tauheedul Haq, former conservator of KP Forest Department while talking to APP on Sunday.
He said Pakistan was a unique country where over 7,253 glaciers were providing fresh water supplies to millions of people for irrigation, drinking and industrial purposes and it preservation was imperative for agriculture growth and economic prosperity.
Mostly located in Himalaya, Hindukush and Karakorum regions of Gilgit Baltistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, he said these glaciers were a distinctive source of freshwater for agriculture, irrigation, drinking and industrial supplies to people, agriculturists, farmers and industrialists living in those regions and downstream up to Karachi through river Indus.
Besides 2,253 mighty, medium and small glaciers, including Baltoro (63km), Biafo (67km), Batura (57km) found in Gilgit Baltistan, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Upper Chitral district was blessed with around 500 glaciers especially at Trichmir mountains ranges providing freshwater to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab and Sindh provinces through rivers Swat, Panjokra, Kabul and Indus throughout the year.
According to National Water Policy 2018, the per capita surface water availability has declined from 5,260 cubic meters per year in 1951 to around 1,000 cubic meters in 2016 and this quantity was likely to further drop to about 860 cubic meters in next few years, marking our transition from a “water stressed” to a “water scarce” country.
The policy disclosed that the minimum water requirement to avoid food and health implications of water scarcity was 1,000 cubic meters per capita per year and the situation underlined the need for rapid development and management of the country’s water resources especially completion of construction of dams of Mohmand and Diamir Bhasha to conserve the precious commodities for future generation.
The National Forest Policy 2015 has revealed that Pakistan was losing about 27,000 hectares of forests per year. The policy said forest resources were under tremendous pressure mostly in community and private-owned natural forests in Gilgit Baltistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa where deforestation was making negative impact on agriculture yield and quality of water at outlets besides triggering land degradation and loss of biodiversity.
Ibrahim Khan, Deputy Project Director, 10 billion trees afforestation project said that numerous measures were taken for maintaining ecological balance and water resources through sustainable growth and preservation of forest resources.
He said all concerned departments were taken on board for preempting fire incidents in forest due to heatwave during summer. He said Forest Amendment Bill 2022 was enacted for sustainable growth and protection of the green gold.
As per the law, the government would also take necessary measures for protection of forest carbon rights and to declare any forest or nearby area as national park.
He said that 690.16 million plants including 352 million through 6081 enclosures and 337.06 million through farm forestry were planted under the 10 billion trees afforestation project till April 30, 2023.
Ibrahim said the provincial climate change policy 2016, range land policy, and REDD plus strategy have been implemented in the province.
He said federal government had allocated Rs 3,950 million for three ongoing schemes including Rs 26.5 million for capacity building on water quality and monitoring and SDG (6.1), Rs 20.95 million for Climate Resilient Urban Human Settlements Unit and Rs 3,902.55 million for a revised project of Up-scaling of Green Pakistan Programme in budget 2023-24.
