It is good to see that conservation is beginning to figure significantly in the government plans to grapple with the increasing water scarcity, which experts say, is only going to get more and more acute in the years to come. According to a Recorder Report, the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock (Minfal) is getting ready to launch a water conservation programme at a cost of Rs 18 billion.
It is to comprise projects aimed at, among other things, conservation through the construction of medium and large dams, and efficient utilisation of irrigation water. Given the controversies that the proposed big dams tend to generate in this country, it would be advisable for the government to concentrate, at least for now, on small dam projects. Doing so would not only be cheaper and less controversial, it would also protect the environment from unnecessary harm.
As a matter of fact, experts have argued for long in favour of small dams, pointing out that there are a number of spots all over this country where water flows could easily be channelled into dammed reservoirs for both irrigation and power generation purposes. Now that the government is drawing up a fresh water conservation programme, it must adopt a progressive, forward looking approach rather than remaining stuck with the idea of building mega dam projects that people in the smaller provinces oppose vehemently on the basis of deep-rooted apprehensions.
What is commendable in the present instance, though, is that the government is also focusing on increasing the efficiency of water use by preventing wastage and adopting better management techniques. The initiative under the President's programme for the improvement of watercourses has been progressing well, albeit when viewed from a short-term perspective.
The plan entails lining of as many as 87000 watercourses at a cost of Rs 66 billion over the next three or four years to prevent wastage through seepage. As per official claims already 18,390 watercourses have been lined and/or renovated.
However, considering that the implementation of this particular conservation technique in Pakistan goes back at least 30 years, lining of watercourses should have become standard practice by now. Unfortunately, Minfal's achievements on this score remain rather elementary.
The ministry is now said to be planning to introduce high efficiency irrigation techniques, like sprinkler irrigation. So far Minfal is looking at the high value crop production, especially the horticulture sector.
The expectation, of course, is that the next phase would cover the agriculture sector in general. One can only hope it will not take forever, like in the case of watercourses' lining, to extend the benefits of better water management techniques beyond the range of horticulture. Unless the plan is all-inclusive it will not help us meet our future water needs; it must aim at full implementation of efficient conservation methods.
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