Draft of a comprehensive 'Water Act' aimed at monitoring and regulating water usage in Punjab is ready and may be presented to the cabinet for approval in next couple of months. "At present it is in the phase of fine-tuning and it is hoped that its enforcement will ensure efficient and judicious usage of available water resources. Under this act, all the water mining activity will be monitored and licenses will be issued for water extraction and usage," said Punjab Irrigation Minister Mohsin Leghari.
Leghari said all the stakeholders will be consulted and taken into confidence before implementation of this act which will provide comprehensive legal frame work to monitor the usage, promoting rain-harvesting and re-use of water etc.
Speaking at a one-day workshop for creating awareness amongst the media persons about water crisis arranged by the WWF-Pakistan, Nestle, at the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) on Wednesday, the Minister said that water scarcity is the biggest issue today and all segments of the society have to make collaborative efforts to tackle it.
He said though Pakistan has a water policy but it is vague and no more than a wish-list with no tangible targets or a clear roadmap. He said there is more to be done. He was of the view that there should be a comprehensive water ministry as water when flows in rivers is controlled by IRSA, in canals it is taken care by the irrigation department and when reaches water-courses it falls under the ambit of the agriculture department. Similarly, potable water is seen by the public health engineering and sanitation by the sanitation agencies.
Leghari said that agriculture provides 60-70% of employment and it consumes 90% of our water resource. He said our irrigation infrastructure is 150 years old and one of the biggest network in the world. He claimed that its net worth is calculated at 25-35 billion US dollars and it needs Rs 80 billion annually to maintain it. He said that they have to change their irrigation system to ensure better supply of water. He said water table is falling at an alarming pace and has come down to 150 feet on average in Pakistan. He said there is a need to stop installing tube-wells without any planning, introduction of cropping zones and promoting efficient usage of water. "There is no wisdom in using the precious water to grow those crops which fetch lesser price."
He also said that water is the same which was available at the time of creation of the country without a negligible plus minus but population which is consuming it has increased manifold; thus bringing down the per capita availability. He said there is a need to incentivize efficient use of water, stop its wastage and control the system losses.
WWF Pakistan CEO Hammad Naqi in his address threw light on the water crisis and termed the issue of the governance as one of the major cause. He said there was a need to modernize irrigation and drainage and improve operations. He recommended that urban water governance should be reformed and improving rural sanitation.
Dr. Fauzia Waqat spoke on the issue of drinking water and child health and stressed the need for importance of water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) in Pakistan's context.
Waqat Ahmad of Nestle Pakistan threw light on the efforts being taken by his organization for reducing the water consumption in their operations and efforts to promote drip and sprinkle irrigation system to save water through good agricultural practices.