The Supreme Court of Pakistan has taken the initiative of devising a strategy for resolution of water scarcity issue as well as timely formulation of effective policies for water preservation in Pakistan.
In this context, the Law and Justice Commission of Pakistan (LJCP) under the aegis of the Supreme Court of Pakistan is organising a two-day international symposium on October 19-20, 2018 on the theme "Creating a Water-Secure Pakistan."
Jurists, luminaries of law, experts in water resource management, academia and researchers from different countries will present their research papers. There will be five thematic sessions; Legal Aspects of Indus Basin Water; Construction of Dams and Reservoirs, Financing of Dams and Reservoirs, Ground Water, Water Recharge & Water Pricing and Water Resources Governance and Management.
The first theme focuses on the Indus Basin Water which is the main source of irrigation in the country and main contributor in the country's economy. In this theme discussions will be made on the Indus Basin Water Treaty 1960. Legal and water experts will discuss the importance of the Indus Water Treaty, its origin, evolution and future prospects. Moreover, international experts from United States of America and Australia will discuss similar issues in comparable basins in these countries.
The second theme will cover the issue of construction of dams and water reservoirs which are need of the hour for effective storage of water and generation of hydroelectric power.
In this session the experts will discuss the need of construction of new dams of Pakistan as per requirement of ever-growing population of Pakistan. Moreover, deliberations would also be made on the challenges of dam designs and building of small dams.
International experts will discuss the short-term and long-term actions required for construction of dams and sediment management in the Indus River.
The third session will focus on the financial aspects of the construction of dams. Experts will give suggestions for the purpose of the raising funds for construction of dams including installation of more hydroelectric power plants and consequently generating funds from such hydro power generation.
The fourth session will discuss the reasons for the shortage of the groundwater, devising strategies to recharge the aquifer and water pricing regimes that could be introduced on the extraction of the underground water.
The fifth session will cover the issue of challenges involved in confronting water governance and improvement in current water data collecting strategies. Deliberations would also be made on introducing water reforms for governance of consumption of water and empowering concerned institutions like WAPDA.
The inaugural session will be chaired by President Dr Arif Alvi while the concluding session will be chaired by the chief justice of Pakistan.