Water Crises in Pakistan: Reasons, 6 Impacts, Dams’Issues, 6 Expert Solutions
By: Shanzay Tariq
Tags: Solutions, Water Shortage, Water Scarcity Solutions, Dam, Water Crisis

“Thousands Have Lived Without Love, Not One Without Water”

It is a famous snippet that denotes the importance of the sign of life on earth -Water. According to Research by Applied Sciences, Pakistan is one of the top 10 countries that are facing the trouble of water crises. Pakistan is among the 36 most water-stressed countries. According to an IMF report, Pakistan has the world’s 4th highest rate of water usage, The aquifer in the Indus basin is the 2nd most stressed in the world, Pakistan is the 3rd water-stressed country in the world so far.

If you want to have a deep insight into the reasons and solutions to the problems of Water Crises in Pakistan, You have just made the right click. Here we go with the reasons for the water crises in Pakistan and their expert suggested solutions.

“When the well’s dry, we know the worth of water.” — Benjamin Franklin

❖Reasons for water crises in Pakistan

1) Rapid population growth and urbanization

As per the UN Report, Pakistan is expected to have a population of 300 million by 2050 which indicates the need for more water resources in a flash.

2) Financial constraints

Inefficient policy-making and the lack of proper management of water resources by the government put Pakistan’s water resources under supplementary pressure. The agricultural sector is untaxed while more than 90 % of Pakistan’s water resources are allocated to that sector. Feudal lords are reluctant to pay the right amount of tax ultimately resulting in the poor economic condition of the country which in turn fuels the fire of water scarcity.

3) Natural causes

Pakistan- the land of beauty is adorned with 7000 glaciers. Continuity of melting water through glaciers in summer is a source of life for a large population in Pakistan but unusual glacial falls and floods have converted this blessing into a curse. Irregular melting of glaciers causes sea levels to rise and ultimately causes floods.

5) Climate Change

According to Research by Applied Sciences, Pakistan is one of the top 10 countries that are facing the trouble of water crises. Climate change threatens the water availability in Pakistan like a monster. Mishaps like tsunamis, cyclones, droughts, typhoons, and floods occur unusually in Pakistan. Rain patterns in Pakistan are also unhinged. It rains more in Pakistan but for a short time. Per capita, water availability has cut corners facing the decline from 2,172 cubic meters per inhabitant to 1,306 cubic meters per inhabitant between the years 1990 and 2015.

4) India-Pakistan water conflict

(i) Construction of Wullar barrage on River Jhelum. (ii) Construction of Buglihar Dam on River Chenab. (iii) Kishanganga project on river Neelam.

Water Conflict between India and Pakistan has worsened the relationships of the two neighboring countries. The Indus Waters Treaty was signed between India and Pakistan in 1960, in which the World Bank played the role of an arbitrator. According to the treaty Ravi, Sutlej, and Bias Rivers were allocated to India whereas Chenab, Jhelum, and Indus Rivers were allocated to Pakistan. Pakistan alleges that India started the construction of the Baglehar Dam in 1999 which violates the treaty. Indian Dam on the Chenab River and Kishan Ganga on the Neelum-Jhelum River apparently shows the violation of the Indus-Water treaty by India. This construction of dams could cause a threat to water availability to the innocent people of Indus basin region. You can get the full case study of this conflict from Water as a Human Right.

No Water. No Life. No Blue. No Green. — Sylvia Earle

❖ DAMS IN PAKISTAN

Delay in the construction of dams and water reservoirs are causing drastic effects on the country as Pakistan’s total dam storage is 30 days of average demand which is a tiny cloud of dust. Most of the dams in Pakistan were built during a period of 15 years, from 1960 to 1975.

List of dams in Pakistan

Tarbela Dam, Dam Hub Dam, Dam Warsak, Mangla Dam Mirani, Dam Gomal, Neelum–Jhelum, Khanpur Dam, Namal Dam Rawal, Zam Dam, Sabakzai Dam, Darawat Dam, Satpara Dam with ➢ Two major under-construction dams in Pakistan- Diamer-Bhasha Dam and Mohmand Dam.

Source: NDU Journal 2008, Volume-II

Kalabagh Dam Issue in Pakistan

Provinces have been seen fighting on Kalabagh dam in National Assembly. Energy crisis or load shedding is a critical issue in Pakistan. This critical issue forces us to think about the Kalabagh dam and other reservoirs. But the govt of KPK in Pakistan objects that it will be dangerous for Nosheraw in case of flood and the Sindh govt is of view that it will face a water shortage problem in case of building any dam in the Indus river. The fact is that the water problem can be dangerous for Pakistan if we don’t use the potential wisely. We have rivers but we don’t build dams, which is a catastrophe on the governments’ part.

Source: tribune.com.pk

“Water is life’s matter and matrix, mother and medium. There is no life without water.” — Albert Szent-Gyorgyi

❖ Impacts of water crises in Pakistan

1) Waterlogging and Salinity

The experts accord waterlogging and salinity as major problems of the agriculture sector of Pakistan. About waterlogging and salinity affect 50% of irrigated lands and on the flip coin, 30 lac acres of land has fallen prey to uncultivability.

3) Sanitation issues and diseases

Sedimentation has destroyed about 5 million acre-feet of Tarbela, Mangla, and Chashma reservoirs and an estimated 40% of the water that runs through canals has fallen a victim to seepage.

2) Drinking water in Pakistan

About 20% of the whole population of Pakistan has access to safe drinking water while the remaining 80% of the population is forced to use unsafe drinking water due to the scarcity of safe and healthy drinking water resources.

3) Water-borne diseases

Dangerous diseases like cholera and typhoid fever, diarrhea, meningitis dysentery, and polio can be caused by a consequence of drinking unclean water. For washing, it can cause skin and infectious eye diseases such as Trachoma. On a dreadful note, a noteworthy population of Pakistan is infected with Hepatitis. According to a Report by the National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine, About 6% of the total population is actively infected with HCV-the most dreadful form of hepatitis virus.

4) Effects of on Livestock

The livestock sub-sector contributes 55% to the agriculture sector and about 12% to the GDP of Pakistan. Animals die of thirst in hot summer seasons due to water scarcity. A lot of animals die because there is no water for pastures and hence there remains no food for the animals. Water shortage affects animals and grazing lands that contribute more than half to our agriculture sector.

5) Drought

Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) notifies in a Report the reason for drought-like conditions is the lack of rain in summers. The dry spell of weather in Pakistan causes drought. Drought is the reason for major disasters caused by water crises specifically in a country like Pakistan where about 22.04% of GDP is contributed by the agriculture sector. Drought causes destruction to the agricultural land, affecting food availability; forcing people to choke to death.

6) Effects on forests

Annually, Pakistan loses approximately 2.1% of its forests. A Report shows that the Basho forest has faced a continuous decrease in the construction of a road in 1968. Only long-term Reforestation will make way to blessings like rain, a friendly climate, green crops, a wealthy economy, and better you.

Source: MDPI

Do your children a favor and save tomorrow’s lifesaver. WATER!

❖ Suggested Solutions

1. Educate and aware people

A person consumes 45 liters of water per flush, washing a car consumes 180 liters of water. For Brushing a person consumes 13 liters, Long showers could take 10 liters, told an activist Simi Kamal. Intelligent use of domestic water could save millions of gallons of water from going to drainage.

2. Water conservation technologies

Resource Conservation Technologies (RCTs) such as zero tillage, laser land leveling, and furrow bed planting will be of great help to frugal water usage says the Publication. Weather-based irrigation controllers can be of great help and are not that expensive if government pays heed to such techniques.

3. Water recycling

“We never know the worth of water till the well is dry.” It's a famous quotation explicitly throwing light on water crises. Water recycling is the pressing need of the hour in Pakistan.

Two-Stage Membrane Filtration is a technology that can be used in which low-pressure membranes and high-pressure membranes combine to succeed in the water recycling process. Low and high molecular weight organic chemicals are supposed to pass through the membranes filtering the water.

is a technology that can be used in which low-pressure membranes and high-pressure membranes combine to succeed in the water recycling process. Low and high molecular weight organic chemicals are supposed to pass through the membranes filtering the water. Ozone Water Treatment is also the talk of the town. Ozone is an oxidizing agent which has the capability to destroy bacteria and viruses in the water.

is also the talk of the town. Ozone is an oxidizing agent which has the capability to destroy bacteria and viruses in the water. Advanced Oxidation Processes were first used by Glaze et al. (1987) and Aieta et al. (1988). It oxidizes organic chemicals and iron, sulfide chemicals, and treats water.

4. Water Treatment

This typically consists of several steps in the treatment process. These include (1) Collection (2) Screening and Straining (3) Chemical Addition (4) Coagulation and Flocculation (5) Sedimentation and Clarification (6) Filtration (7) Disinfection (8) Storage (9) and finally Distribution.

5.Develop energy-efficient desalination plants

Desalination involves removing salts and chemicals from water. Pakistan inaugurated the Karachi Port Trust (KPT) Manora Water Desalination plant that provides between 200,000 to 250,000 gallons of water per day. It works on membrane filtration technology but there is a need for more water desalination projects in the country.

Source: Sydney Desalination Plant

6. Water catchment and harvesting

In water catchment and harvesting, the harvested rainwater is filtered and then pumped directly to a header tank. It catches and collects the water for human use. Water caught through such a process can contain chemicals, so there is a need of filtering such water later.

Conclusion:

“The deeper the waters are, the more still they run.” It's a Korean proverb giving us the awareness to use water mindfully. Water crises do not occur as a reason of government negligence to it only, it takes two to make a quarrel. Water scarcity could only be prevented if masons use water consciously and the government adds another string to the bow by building dams, resolving dams’ issues, making water reservoirs, and using water conservation technologies adroitly.