The need for conservation as well as the judicious use of water was stressed at a workshop held at a local hotel on Friday evening. The moot was organised by the Karachi Water Partnership (KWP)- an initiative of the Hisaar Foundation in collaboration with the International Network for Capacity Building (NetCap).
Speaking on the occasion, KWP Management Group Chairperson Simi Kamal apprised of the concept of the integrated water resource management (IWRM) and said that was a process, which promoted the co-ordinated development and management of water.
She further stated that this was grounded in the perception of water as an integral part of the ecosystem. She advocated the need for what she termed aggressively promoting water conservation and introducing the water quality standards.
She also called for making the greatest savings where there was greatest use, and stressed the need of reducing use for river water in cities by promoting desalination, recycling and reuse. She said Pakistan was among the water-stressed countries and that "we would have to change our habits and introduced stringent law to tackle the water wastage."
She said it was estimated that 40 percent of the water in Karachi was lost through leakage before consumption. She said there was also wastage through leaky taps, washing cars and sewage mismanagement. Farzana Saleem, Co-ordinator CapNet Pakistan, Shehnaz Ramzi, Zohair Ashir, Ayesha Tammy Haq, Tofiq Pasha Mooraj and Amina Siddiqui also spoke on the occasion.