Indus River System Authority (Irsa) said on Thursday that the country is losing 30MAF water to sea each year due to failure to construct more dams, economic impact of which is calculated at $18 billion. Addressing a day-long brainstorming seminar on "National Water Policy", organised by the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda), Irsa chairman Rao Irshad Ali Khan said that Pakistan had been losing water for the last 40 years.
Federal government has also sought help of provinces to charge tariff on water use which should be deposited in a consolidated fund to spend on controlling water losses, he added. Wapda chairman Zafar Mehmood said that the water issues cannot be resolved unless water pricing is fixed. He said KPK has filed a petition before Irsa for monetary compensation against its allocated share which was being used by other provinces.
He said that the water price would also help resolve such issues. Mehmood said that federal government would have to invest in building reserves and provinces were receiving hydel profit. He said that electricity consumers were paying for generating money spent on building reservoirs. Minister for Water and Power Khawaja Asif said that water losses were much bigger compared to electricity losses. He said that Pakistan required formulating two separate policies as one should resolve international disputes, for example with India, whereas other policy should focus on addressing disputes between provinces over water allocation. He said that consultation was ongoing to develop a consensus on water issues between provinces.
Quoting example of Denmark, he said that its economy had doubled during the last 35 years, but its electricity consumption was the same as 35 years before due to energy conservation. "We need to change our behaviour pattern for energy conservation," he said, adding that 25 per cent water was going into sea due to lack of storage facility. He urged the launch of a mass campaign even in schools to promote energy conservation. He said that water was being wasted because it was tax free. "There have been wars on water issues and there will be war on water issues in future as well", he added. Representative of Punjab, Mahmood-ul-Hassan, said that Punjab endorsed the proposed policy and urged to build more dams in the country. He said that substantial budgetary allocation should be made for building dams.
He said that Kalabagh dam could be constructed in light of the water accord which was signed by chief ministers and approved by Council of Common Interests (CCI). Abdul Qadir Paleejo, a representative of Sindh government, said that national water policy was the first initiative to develop consensus among provinces on water issues. "We need to take all stakeholders on board," he said. He did not make any detailed comment on proposed national water policy.
A representative of Balochistan government, Pervaiz Bukhari, said that strategy should be formulated to address international water issues. He said that there had also been dispute about water share and Balochistan was not being given its legitimate share from Indus River. He added that Balochistan was getting only 5pc water from Indus River whereas its remaining areas were dependent on rains.
Raja Aurangzeb, representative AJK government, said that expensive loans were being pumped into construction of infrastructure; and urged representation of water commission for rights, obligations and water requirements. He recommended levying service charge on water us.
Comments
Comments are closed.