One Third of Pakistanis Will Face a Water Crisis by 2020

By 2020, one out of every three Pakistanis would face a water crisis, as the per capita water in Pakistan that was 5,000 m³ in 1947 has reduced to 1,200 m³ to date and would decrease to the level of 800 m³ by 2020.

According to Dr. Farrukh Saleem, Executive Director, Centre for Research and Security Studies, 80 per cent of the earth’s surface was water, 97 per cent of all water was salt water, only three per cent of all water was drinking water and of this three per cent, two per cent was currently frozen.

He was addressing a seminar on ‘Pakistan’s Water Management and Security’ on the occasion of the World Day for Water 2008.

The Nation quoted Syed Jamaat Ali Shah, Indus Water Commissioner, as saying the Indian Government had blocked the canal water in 1948 that brought both countries to the brink of a war.

“The Indians are constructing Baglihar, Kishan Ganga and Wuller Dams will create water scarcity in Pakistan,” he said.

Dr Zafar Altaf, former Agriculture Secretary,observed that water management in Pakistan at the institutional level was obsolete and practices wasteful.

"The institutions are not putting modern concepts into practice, and it is commonly believed that the seawater is absolutely useless, which is not true,” he stated.

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“Unfortunately, the rule of the elite is also marring the agriculture sector where the only a few influential people are ruling the millions of farmers in Pakistan and the relevant laws are just not implemented to protect the innocent farmers. There are also crop-based mafias operating in Pakistan that were responsible for misallocation and destruction of agricultural norms," Altaf claimed.

Source-ANI
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