Speakers highlight water management crisis in Pakistan

Speakers at a national conference on Tuesday called up on the policy makers to go for the adaptability option in the rapidly changing socio-economic sectors for the security of decreasing water and shrinking farming sources. They said Pakistan was one of the tenth countries faced with the threat of climate change.
Speaking on the second day of the national conference organized by the Climate Change Center of the University of Agriculture, Peshawar on 'Thinking Climate Change Adaptation in Water and Farming' here at the University of Agriculture, Peshawar, Dr Ghulam Rasool, Director General of the Meteorological Department, said Pakistan was in abundance with the natural resources. He said Pakistan had great reservoirs of water in the form of over seven thousand glaciers, which contributed to the main rivers of the country. He said this water was the lifeline for the farming sector.
He said Pakistan was faced with water management crisis. "Unprecedented amount of water is available in the monsoon season, but we cannot store it. Why have not thought about it why it goes waste". He said ground water table level was lowering with the passage of time it could be sustained at pretty level by storing rain and flood water.
According to the international surveys, he said, 2015 was the hottest year, which had made its impact on water and farming in Pakistan, which was located in heat surplus zone.
Giving his presentation, Professor Ashfaq Ahmad Chatha from the University of Agriculture, Islamabad, said that farmers could even mitigate the threat by opting for other indigenous avenues in the livestock, including poultry and fish farming. He said the changed weather cycle had delayed the plantation of wheat, which was to be done by 15 November. He said the world population would be over nine billion by 2050, but the world was faced with decreasing trend in every sphere.
He said in the climate change had made substantial effects on the food stock across the poor countries. He said the global warming might modify soil structure and cause increase into the erosion process. He said the climate change phenomenon had been resulted into the soil erosion owing deforestation, rise in temperature and loss of biodiversity. He stressed on the use of new technology in the farming to give impetus to the production.
Explaining his experience in the rural community of Gilgit and Chitral, Helmut Wolf, Chief Executive Officer of Aga Khan Rural Support Programme, said the people in this mountainous zone were living in harsh conditions owing to changing weather and declining livelihood resources. He said in most of the villages, nestling on slopes of mountains, womenfolk were engaged in the farming, which was very difficult for them. He said his organization was mainly involved in livestock and micro-hydro facilities.