Water availability is less than: 1,500 cubic meters per capita 'Pakistan on verge of being declared a water-scarce state'

The country is being shifted from the scenario of water abundance to water scarcity country and as many as 30,000 people die each year in Karachi alone from using unsafe water.
Addressing a seminar on "water for cities responding to the urban challenge" on World Water Day jointly organised by Bahria University and Consumer Association of Pakistan (CAP) here on Tuesday, Khalid Tawab Vice President Federation Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) said that over the years, the water availability in the country has fallen drastically with statistics pointing a sharp fall from 5,000 cubic meters per capita in the 1950s to less than 1,500 cubic meters per capita.
He said that Pakistan stands on the verge of being declared a water scarce state where the international benchmark of being water scarce stands at 1000 cubic meters per capita.
Such statistics become more alarming in nature when it is added that Pakistan is mainly an agrarian country and hence around 90 percent of the country's water is actually dedicated to agriculture, he added.
Pakistan has one of the most inefficient agricultural systems in the world and this system consumes between 90 and 95 percent of the available water, whereas the average use in developing countries is between 70-75 percent, Tawab Informed. The remaining trickle is used for drinking and sanitation purposes by the 170 million peoples of Pakistan. As a result, at least 55 million Pakistanis lack access to clean water, and as many as 30,000 people die each year in Karachi alone from using unsafe water, he said.
Adding that around 40 percent of it gets used and the rest is wasted through leakages and other means. Then, there is the looming threat of overall availability getting drastically reduced because of climate change. Talking about the crisis he said that two main reasons of water crisis in Pakistan, one is natural due to prolong drought, which is beyond the control of a man, and the other is due to the gross negligence in the development and mismanagement of water resources in Pakistan. According to current Economic Survey of Pakistan, the industrial and domestic consumption of water is quite low, ie 31 percent of the total of which the industries use 23 percent and domestic demand is only 8 percent, he elaborated.
The major user of water is agriculture which uses up 69 percent of the total which is over two-third of the total supplies. In industry sector, the use of uncontrolled water quantities in production activities, generation of excessive effluent in production process, toxic nature of effluent being generated by industries and untreated discharge of effluent to natural water bodies were the major water related issues, he concluded. On this occasion Chairman CAP Kukab Iqbal, Commodore Mazhar Iqbal Director Bahria University, Freeda Essa General Secretary CAP and others also spoke.