Dear Readers,
Water is arguably one of the most important commodities in this world, as important as crops, metals and energy are to this Earth, none of would them matter without water. Water is the basis of all life and it, more than anything else, is a vital element for human survival. It is rather ironic that water covers two-third of this planet but not all of it is drinkable. Water scarcity already affects every continent, water use has been growing globally at more than twice the rate of population increase in the last century and an increasing number of regions are reaching the limit at which water services can be sustainably delivered, particularly in arid regions. The water crisis has been a topic for quite some time in Pakistan however there remains a lot of confusion about the nature of this crisis. Today, even as the entire world faces shortages to varying degrees, some analysts point to global warming as being the cause while others feel this catastrophe is because of the impact of humans on the environment. Nations that are responsible have already started taking measures to conserve water resources, however Pakistan is not among them. Experts have served warning of a very bleak future, by 2025, only three years away, this nation of 220 million is likely to face severe drought. The Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (RCRWR) has corroborated these concerns and warned that Pakistan will approach absolute water scarcity by 2025. Unfortunately, Pakistan has neither constructed large dams, nor built water reservoirs since 1984 when the Tarbela Dam became fully functional. While some new dams and reservoirs are under construction these are mostly in initial stages and because of the scarcity of water in Pakistan, experts have predicted that conditions will only get worse from here onwards which means the Pakistan is in a race against time to achieve its target of developing and completing new dams before calamity is upon us. Pakistan has been caught on the wrong foot due to criminal inaction by almost all former governments, the politicization of the Kalabagh Dam which has been the source of recurring disputes among Provinces because of which consensus has not been forthcoming and a final resolution appears highly unlikely. Trust issues between provinces have stymied all attempts at resource sharing and introducing the National Water Policy (NWP) and governments, provincial and federal are equally responsible for us being just three years from a possible Doomsday.
According to the Food and Agricultural Association (FOA) Pakistan is among 36 countries in the whole world whose gross water withdrawal is 47.4 percent of its total renewable water resources. However it was not always so, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) the per capita annual availability slumped to 1017 cubic meters from 1500 cubic meters; in1951 this was 5000 cubic meters. Several factors have contributed to the water crisis in Pakistan, such as an increase in population in urban areas, agriculture, mismanagement of water system, an extremely water-intensive economy, poor management of water resources, corruption and absence of a National Water Policy and climate change. If this crisis is not solved, the impact felt by people in Pakistan is bound to worsen. Of these climate change would most likely increase Pakistan’s water woes. The glaciers in the north are melting, causing flooding and depleting a source of freshwater.
Warnings about Pakistan becoming severely water stressed have not come upon us as a sudden revelation, national and international organizations have been alerting Pakistani governments for decades, to no avail. A 2016 report by PCRWR highlighted that Pakistan had already touched the water stress line in 1990, and by 2005, it had crossed the red line i.e. the “water scarcity line.” Today in 2022, the situation has greatly worsened. The obsolete canal network, water theft by influentials for their farmlands, unplanned and gigantic urbanization, deforestation under the nose of policymakers and domestic water abuse added to the problem.
On April 24, 2018 the Council of Common Interests (CCI) unanimously approved the country’s first-ever National Water Policy (NWP) crafted by Mr. Sartaj Aziz, former Foreign Minister, Finance Minister and lastly Deputy Chairman Planning Commission till his resignation. The document was signed by the prime minister and provincial four chief ministers. The policy emphasised conservation of water, water storage, water apportionment and under-soil water quality. Due importance was given to the building of new dams for water storage and equitable water distribution to provinces. The NWP also empowered provinces to develop their own master plans for sustainable development and management of water resources. While the policy was well-received by experts as it had several key points, it also faced criticism for being silent on some very pressing issues. For example, it completely missed the issue of water shortage in urban areas, an issue that has existed for quite some time. The National Water Policy laid down no plan in this regard, contributing further to the deadlock which only gave rise to more backlash and criticism. The NWP, despite being an instrument that could be beneficial to Pakistan, appears to have become almost ineffectual. The policy gives out very clear signals that favour building more large dams, but fails to explain how this can be achieved – which cause significant problems such as water logging and salinity. Also given the uncertain political climate, the provinces need to have the capacity to be able to mobilize resources for a sustained period of time.
Apart from its water woes, Pakistan also faces a severe energy crisis due to insufficient addition of electricity in the power system. Rapid industrialization, population growth, a high rate of urbanization, power theft, line losses, etc. represent some factors contributing to the energy dilemma. This crisis has affected the country’s gross domestic product, almost paralyzed production, and caused the social life of citizens to suffer. Being a growing economy Pakistan continues to face the challenge of increasing electricity demand, however this cannot be fulfilled from its currently installed power generation capacity. It is ironic and also embarrassing that Pakistan has not yet been able to fully harness the capacity of its vast hydropower potential for electricity generation and depends on imported and local fossil fuels to fulfill its energy demands, which consume a significant portion of the country’s economy. The exploitation of hydropower potential provides benefits of power generation and also acts as water storage reservoirs for the agriculture and fishing sectors. Hydropower can provide an economical, renewable, clean, and secure source of energy. The potential benefits and prospects of hydropower require a comprehensive review of the hydropower sector to investigate the true resource potential and its development, considering the associated pros and cons. Hydropower can provide an economical, renewable, clean, and secure source of energy. The hydropower potential of Pakistan is around 60,000 MW of which only about 9,300 MW has been developed by Wapda in the last 74 years because of bureaucratic hurdles and other drawbacks. The private sector has been struggling for the past 10 years to develop some 5,000MW and if properly planned, another 15,000MW can be developed in the next 20 years. The useful life of hydropower projects is 100-120 years, and at expiry of the 30-year concession term, a hydro plant is transferred free of cost to the government. The hydro plant continues to operate at nominal variable cost against thermal generation for which repeated capital expenditure is required. Unfortunately, hydropower development has always been given the lowest priority in Pakistan; this is more than evident as only three IPP hydro projects have reached commercial operation. Had Pakistan pushed through hydel projects a few decades ago it would have helped fend off what was then an impending water crisis. Instead, today, we are smack in the middle of a crisis that is crippling agriculture growth and life in general for regular citizens.
Big cities like Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad suffer from chronic water shortage that intensifies further each year, this highlights poor governance and mismanagement. In 2017 the Indus River System Authority (IRSA) told the Senate Forum for Policy Research that “Pakistan dumps water worth approximately $21 billion into the sea each year due to the lack of water conservation system and distribution to provinces.” Stressing upon the need for more reservoirs, Irsa served dire warning, that Pakistan has a capacity to only store up to 30 days’ worth of water, India on the other hand can store up to 320 days’ worth. Is anyone listening or does anyone care?
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