A special parliamentary panel on water scarcity Wednesday called for making joint efforts to deal with the water crisis in the country, saying that water availability is not an issue over here but mismanagement has worsened the situation. The Senate Special Committee on Water Scarcity met here with Senator Moula Bux Chandio in the chair and discussed issues pertaining to safe drinking water shortage and water availability for irrigation in all provinces.
The members also discussed the solutions to remove problems arising in fair distribution of water of the Indus River according to satisfaction of provinces, besides considering strategies for better utilisation of water resources.
The officials of the Ministry of Water Resources and members of Indus River System Authority (Irsa) gave a detailed briefing to the committee members on the present situation of water in Pakistan. The officials of the Ministry of Water Resources said that the committee to deal with water shortage situation in Sindh. The government is working on 34 small dams in Sindh. They added that the completion of the dams will provide not only safe drinking water to the locals but the water will also be used for irrigation purposes.
The officials said that water shortage for the upcoming Rabi season is expected to be around 40 percent due to below average rainfall during the recent monsoon season. Senator Sassui Palijo of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) raised the issue of water shortage in Sindh during the Kharif season. The province was facing drought like situation in many areas due to water shortage, she said and added desertification and sea intrusion are also observed in Sindh. She said the Indus Water Accord of 1991 should be implemented in a way that overcomes water shortages for agriculture sector in Sindh.
Federal Secretary Water Resources Shamail Ahmad Khawaja in his briefing said that for the first time National Water Policy in consensus with the provinces was announced in June this year. The policy, he said, contained clear-cut targets with timeliness to improve water management and adopt conservation strategies. He said a committee headed by attorney general of Pakistan was constituted to prepare recommendations in 30 days and put them before the Council of Common Interests to resolve issue of water distribution among provinces.
He said it is a myth that Pakistan did not have enough water as 138 million acres feet of water flows in its rivers every year; however the shortages occurs due to lack of management. In 1947, 5,600 cubic meter water per person was available in a year but now it dropped to 908 cubic meters per person per annum due to huge increase in population, he said adding 95 percent of water was allocated for agricultural purposes while three percent and two percent was used by domestic and industrial consumers respectively, he said.
About setting up of desalination plants for harnessing seawater resources, the secretary said that it is expensive to desalinate water and was done only in countries facing acute dearth of water. Pakistan has abundant of fresh and groundwater resources and could fulfil its needs by utilising conservation methods and smart agriculture.
Senator Sherry Rehman expressed concern over reduction in allocation for water projects in Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP). Water scarcity is a national security issue as it is harming the livelihood of farmers, she said adding that water of Indus River is not reaching many areas of Sindh and Balochistan. Senator Muhammad Akram pointed out that no drinking water is being provided from the desalination plant in Gwadar as the project has been abandoned.
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