Topic: Pakistan Running Dry

Submitted by:
Abdul Ahad Akbar
Syeda Kashaf-e-Zehra
Tabita Soumer Albert
Ahmed Mujtaba Kayani
Laiba Javed
Muhammad Jahanzaib

Air University Islamabad

BBA Dept.
Introduction

Apparently with two thirds of the earth’s surface covered by water, it is evidently clear that water
is one of the most important elements responsible for life on earth. It is not only vital for
sustenance of life, but equally essential for socio-economic development. Water is the unique
gift of God and the basic requirement of life. Due to the high indulgence and exploitation of
human being with nature, the global environment is changing every day. As a result the water
resources are depleting gradually.

Water is an essential resource for economic activities with strong cultural and symbolic values
for millions of people especially in developing countries.

But at Pakistan Water Situation is getting worse. Pakistan could "run dry" by 2025 as its water
shortage is reaching an alarming level. The authorities remain negligent about the crisis that's
posing a serious threat to the country's stability. According to a recent report by the International
Monetary Fund (IMF), Pakistan ranks third in the world among countries facing acute water
shortage.

Pakistan has the world's fourth-highest rate of water use. Its water intensity rate — the amount of
water, in cubic meters, used per unit of GDP — is the world's highest. This suggests that no
country's economy is more water-intensive than Pakistan's.

Agriculture is Pakistan’s backbone and shortfall of water will be devastating for a country.
Nearly 70 percent of the Pakistan’s population is directly or indirectly associated with
agriculture, which accounts for 26% of its gross domestic product (GDP) and employs 45% of
labor force. The export of rice, cotton, cotton based products etc. bring about 65% of our total
earnings. Adverse effects of water shortage on agriculture would have a spiraling effect on the
prevailing level of poverty leading to economic and social problems.

Other than Agriculture 23% of Water is used for Industry and 8% for Domestic use.

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 Total Water Consumption in Pakistan

According to media reports Tarbela and Mangla dams, the country's two major water
reservoirs, reached their "dead" levels. And there is a need to build a new Dam, Otherwise
country may face huge scarcity and huge economic and social loss.

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Crisis
The water crisis in Pakistan has been termed as the more significant threat to the country than
terrorism, and sadly the former had not been able to make the headlines in either national or
international media.
The reports by the United Nations Development Programmed (UNDP) and Pakistan Council of
Research in Water Resources (PCRWR) have warned that the country may run out of water in

2025 and with more than 200 million people depending upon the depleting water reserves, it is
high time that the people wake up to find the sustainable solutions for this issue.
With the expected population of 263 million in the year 2050, Pakistan needs to put genuine idea
into how it will give sufficient water to agribusiness, industry, and human utilization even with
quickly diminishing stores. Pakistan is among the countries that can run dry in near future. To
mitigate this issue, Pakistan is moving forward to construct dam.

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Causes of Water shortage
Water is the most important element necessary for human beings, animals, insects, plants and for
earth as a whole and Pakistan is on its way to becoming the most water-stressed country in the
region so following are some of the causes which are responsible for this.

 Pakistan is frequently facing natural hazards like floods, droughts, and cyclones effect on
water crisis. Pakistan’s greenhouse gases emissions have doubled in last 2 decades.
 “On a global scale, Pakistan ranks 135th in per capita GHG emissions in the world.”
 The agriculture sector is the victim of abrupt climate change, about 65-70% of country’s
population is directly or indirectly related to agriculture. Also government is not paying
attention to this main problem when they know how much we are dependent on
agriculture sector.
 The availability of fresh water is mostly affected by a change in climate. The water
resources of Pakistan are scarce which directly relates to food insecurity, especially in
rural areas. The arid and semi-arid zones are the most vulnerable to climate change as
these regions are already facing water shortage and high temperature.
 The seasonal changes are impacting the sowing time of crops which directly effects
irrigation which as a result modifies the properties of soil and increase the risk of pest,
disease attacks and negatively altering agricultural productivity.
 The recent studies indicate that Pakistan’s 22.8% land and 49.6% population is at risk due
to impacts of climate change. Climate changes have also resulted in an increase in
potential for Malaria (12-27%) and Dengue (31-47%).
 In May, at least 65 people died from heatstroke in the southern city of Karachi. In 2015,
at least 1,200 people died during a spate of extremely hot weather. "Heat waves and
droughts in Pakistan are a result of climate change," Mian Ahmed Nadeem Salik, an
environmental expert and research fellow at the Institute of Strategic Studies in
Islamabad, told Deutsche Welle News.

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Mismanagement
Water wastage is also one of the most significant issues in Pakistan, and as the water crisis are
becoming worse, no measures seem to have been adopted by the government and individuals to
prevent this calamity. At the individual level, we waste water carelessly while;

 Washing cars/bikes at homes and service stations on daily basis, it is not cleanliness
but it is wastage of water.
 Keeping the tap open carelessly. When you know your country is facing water
shortage.
 Washing garages and washroom every day; even the main gate of our home.

And also the government is not affected by this, taking no measures for this. Even worse, is that
Lahore Waste Management Company washes the Lahore city roads with drinkable water. 30,500
liters of drinking water gets wasted every day.

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Scarcity of Dams
Due to fewer water releases from the dams, farmers largely depend on groundwater. The
majority of agricultural production of Pakistan depends on underground water, which is not
efficiently utilized causing the water table to plummet at an alarming rate. Almost no water is
left above ground or underground.

"The monsoon season has become erratic in the past few years. The winter season has shrunk
from four to two months in many parts of the country. On top of it, Pakistan cannot save
floodwater due to a scarcity of dams," Salik said. "At the time of Pakistan's birth in 1947, forests
accounted for about 5 percent of the nation's area, but they have now dropped to only 2 percent.
Pakistan must invest in building water reservoirs and plant more trees," he added.

The total number of major and minor dams in Pakistan is 150. India has built 3,200 dams so far.
To meet the present and future challenges of water scarcity and energy crisis, we require sincere
policymakers to build dams and reservoirs to meet our needs, as our policy makers are not

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concerned of future; of our next generation who are going to suffer this.

India Violation
The construction of dams and barrages by India over River Chenab and River Jhelum in
violation of the Indus Basin Treaty created the problem of water shortage for Pakistan which is
becoming more and more severe with the passage of time.

According to the UNO Report, Pakistan is at the 7th position in the list of countries, which are
facing water crisis.

Population
Population is also the factor because of which we are facing water crisis. The population of
Pakistan is increasing at a rate of 3.2%. Presently, we have to feed more the 200 million people
and if population increase rate remains the same, then it will be almost double by the year,2025.
According to research, the daily birthrate in Pakistan has reached the figure of 14,000 and hence,
the consumption of the underground water is adding to the problem.

Thus there is a need to revise policies regarding population, control it to reassure future
sustainable development. Presently, Pakistan has a surface water of 153 MAF and underground
water resources of only 24 MAF and Pakistan may face water shortage of 33 MAF during the
year 2015.

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Findings

Living things cannot survive without water.

Yet more than 700 million people worldwide have trouble getting clean, safe water. That number
comes from the Water Project, a non-profit group. It estimates that one in nine people do not
have access to safe and clean drinking water.

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 Trash floats on a polluted water channel that flows into the Guanabara Bay in Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil, on May 15, 2014.

 Governments, non-governmental organizations (NGO) and charities sent representatives

to Stockholm, Sweden earlier this month for World Water Week activities. The subject
for this year’s water week campaign was “water and waste, reduce and reuse.”
 The United States Geological Survey defines wastewater as used water. It is the water
that comes out of pipes from peoples’ homes — from their bathrooms, washing machines
and dishwashers. It can contain substances such as human waste, food pieces, oils, and
chemicals. Businesses and industries also use water that must be cleaned.

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  Wastewater can also have harmful substances that wash off roads, areas where motor
vehicles are kept, and tops of buildings when it rains.
 Todd Gartner of the World Resources Institute spoke with VOA from Stockholm by
Skype. He says only a small amount of wastewater is being reused for other purposes.
 "Something like, I think it’s only four or five percent of wastewater is being recycled for
any useful purpose. And over 90 percent of wastewater is just raw water. Right, you
obviously have some nutrients and some metals you have to filter out, but the technology
is increasingly becoming available to treat and reuse that wastewater."

A potato grows in a field irrigated by recycled wastewater in Kibbutz Magen in southern Israel.

Effects

Aside from an ogbvious lack of drinking water, hunger is one of the biggest effects of water
scarcity. Water shortages directly contribute to lower crop yields and the death of livestock,
which can quickly lead to food shortages. Starvation can result in the flare up of conflict, and
incite migration efforts, which can be both dangerous and hard to properly manage. The United
Nations says food production should be increased by 60% by 2050 in order to stave off political
turmoil, civil war, terrorism, and other problems. Children who are hungry or thirsty often do not
go to school, which means education suffers as well.

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  Reduced rainfall
 Poor water management
 Poor handling of industrial wastewater
 Climate change
 Lack of political will to address the governing issues
 Change in food consumption pattern and lack of proper water storage facilities
 Ignorance at the household level
 Wastage of drinking water in non-productive means

Conclusion

Pakistan is one of the poorest countries of the world, whereas on the other hand it is one of the
richest in its population increasing capabilities. Our population has surpassed the 140 million
mark by now and is still increasing at an alarming rate of about 3%, which definitely needs to be
checked. On the other hand, the growth rate of agriculture is decreasing due to water shortages.
To keep up the pace of agricultural growth comparable to population growth, we must bring
additional lands under cultivation. in order to achieve the required growth targets in agriculture,
we needed an estimated amount of 149 MAF in 2000 and will need 215 maf year 2013 and about

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277 MAF by year 2025. this scenario warns that Pakistan has already has sided from a water
happy country to a water scarce country in 1994 and already shortage of over 40 maf persists,
which may increase to a shortage of 108 maf and 151 maf by years 2013 and 2025 respectively.
This water shortage has been threatening the federal structure of the country. Our reluctance to
treat water as an economic good and inadequate recognition of the environmental concerns
associated with current practices have led us towards this catastrophic situation. Furthermore, its
remedy is an urgent one, otherwise it could trigger water riots and finally lead to social, if not
political, catastrophe. Since no additional water is available, it is the time to recognize our
responsibilities and start taking steps in the right direction.

The problems faced by the water sector in the country are many, acute and serious and it is also
known that we can generate about 83 maf of more water. Therefore, building of more reservoirs
and an effective management strategy are the needs of time. Also, implementation of the
recommendations will enable the country to meet the challenges, and achieve the objectives of
integrated, efficient, environmentally and financially sustainable development and management
of limited water resources.

Solutions
The national water strategy must be based upon two essential elements covering
• Water developments
• Water management
The water development strategy is largely based upon construction of new storage reservoirs
whereas the water management strategy will help in reducing the present losses.

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Water Development: - From following projects, we shall be able to store additional 20maf
of water. In this construction of following dams should start immediately: -
• Chasha dam: - It would be located 200 miles upstream of Terbela on river Indus. its
gross storage capacity would be 7.3 maf and live storage 5.7 maf. Its power
generation capacity would be 3360 mw.
• (b) Kalabagh dam: - Kalabagh dam site is located 132 miles downstream of Terbela.
Its gross storage would be 6.1 maf. It would have a power generation of 3600 mw.
Here I shall further suggest that the construction of Kalabagh be under taken only,
once all the provinces are convinced and willing to cooperate.
• (c) Thal reservoir: - It would be located on the right bank of Chashma – Jhelum link
canal, along the western bank of river Jhelum. Its reservoir would have gross capacity
of 2.3 maf.
• (d) Raised Mangla dam: - in this the present Mangla dam would be further raised by
40 ft and thus increasing its gross capacity to 9.5 maf. In addition, its power
generation capacity would be increased by 15%.
• (e) Mirani dam: - The dam is located on Dasht River about 48 km of Turbat town in
Mekran division. Its main objective is to provide water for irrigation. Its gross storage
is 0.30 maf.
• (f) Gomalzam dam: - It is located at Khajori Kach on Gomal River in South
Waziristan, about 75 miles from Dera Ismail Khan. Its main objective will be to
irrigate 132000 acres of land, power generation of 17.4 mw and flood control.

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Water Management
Managing water resources is the need of time, and we
in Pakistan already short of water, must chalk out a
strategy. In this endeavor can be made to save around
1.3 maf of water from existing losses. following is
recommended in this regard: -

• Presently the losses occur due to seepage,

infiltration and leakages etc. seepage results
in water logging and these losses can be
reduced or eliminated by lining the canals.
• In addition, people should be educated to
conserve water by cooperation.
• Furthermore, government should make laws on water conservation, like many
western countries.
• The second largest contribution to the total water available comes from the
groundwater sources. This source has been exploited and very well used by public
and private tube wells. It can still provide over nine maf of water. This source can be
exploited and judiciously used for irrigation purposes. However, in some areas
ground water is rapidly depleting due to excessive pump age, authorities should take
control in such areas to save them from depleting.
• Efforts be made to convert the present rotation based irrigation system to demand
oriented system.
• The modern irrigation techniques, that is trickling, sprinkling etc, which have a
potential to improve water distribution and its utilization.
• Authorities should take appropriate steps to curb the illegal extraction of water and
ensure its equitable distribution.
• Presently irrigation department has failed to stop the illegal theft and extraction; thus
irrigation distribution system needs to be privatized through water user associations.

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• In addition, water, now-a-days is supplied to farmers at a very negligible cost and that
is why they do not treat water as a precious resource; therefore, there is a need to
increase the water prices to make irrigators realize the importance of this asset.
• Farmer’s organizations, water user association, and private sector be involved in
construction, operation, and maintenance of the irrigation system. Such associations
are conceived as a mechanism for creating a cooperative frame work for improvement
of watercourses.

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