President of All Karachi Industrial Alliance (AKIA) Mian Zahid Hussain has said that the country was steadily heading towards a serious water crisis due to decades-long negligence of the authorities concerned. He also voiced his concern over construction of controversial dams by India, saying that such a trend will endanger peace in the region.
Discussing the issue of water shortage with business community, he said that the government should allocate substantial funds for developing water resources for meeting actual requirement of agriculture, livestock and industrial sectors. "Though 90 per cent of water resources are being utilised by agriculture sector, a sizeable quantity of water was being wasted owing to primitive water distribution system," he added.
Claiming that the country's farmers have been using 100 per cent more water than Indian farmers, he said that the ratio was 200pc higher as compared to China and 300pc higher as against the developed nations. He was of the view that wastage of water by farmers was a threat to our agriculture that covers 21pc of GDP and absorbs 45pc of labourers. Recalling that international experts had repeatedly advised Pakistan to build more and more dams to overcome its water needs, he regretted that no successive government paid any heed in this regard.
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