Water management

According to a Recorder Report, human development statistics in Pakistan show that only about 65 percent of the people have access to safe drinking water, whereas the government is committed, as a signatory to the UN Millennium Development Goals, to cover 93 percent of the population by 2015.
Meanwhile, the country's per capita water availability has been decreasing at an alarming rate, says the report, due to increase in population and diminishing water resources. Rising groundwater utilisation for domestic and agricultural purposes, has adversely affected groundwater quality, especially in irrigated areas where about 70 percent of the water is supplied by tube wells, and is rendered unfit for drinking.
Adding to the problem are the irrigation demands in the backdrop of extended periods of droughts as well as the rising requirements of the industrial sector. What we will need in another three years' time will be an additional 48 billion m3 of water to meet the growing demands of our economy.
In short, Pakistan is in the company of high water stress countries, and needs to undertake urgent measures to ease the current stress, and also to ensure longer-term water security. Availability of water, especially for drinking, is an underrated issue in this country.
The need for providing easy access to all to this life sustaining natural resource is recognised, but what is not so well recognised is the fact that rapid urbanisation and industrial activity have increased the pressure on the underground aquifers. At the same time, much of the river water needed for irrigation, domestic and industrial uses, goes to waste due to outdated irrigation techniques and lack of awareness about conservation.
True, the government has made some admirable efforts to prevent seepage, through lining of canals and watercourses. But it is yet to popularise modern watering methods such as drip irrigation to prevent wastage that accompanies flood irrigation prevalent in our farms and fields. To make matters worse, for long successive governments at the Centre remained stuck on their insistence to build mega dam projects which, in the case of Kalabagh dam, was met with fierce resistance from smaller members of the federation, leading to a general standstill.
Creditably for it, the new government has decided to construct smaller dams, which is also in accord with the concerns of environmentalists who oppose big dams because of their harmful effects on flora and fauna as well as consequent forced population displacements.
Since we receive ample rain, it would be worthwhile also to benefit from the experience of certain other countries and think about harvesting rainwater. And, of course, there is dire need to create awareness among the domestic users to avoid wastage in their daily routines. Indeed, conservation, on both macro and micro level, is the best answer to the water stress that we face now and expect in the days to come.