MANAGEMENT & IMPROVEMENT OF WATER RESOURCES IN PAKISTAN

1. Fresh water is a source of life on earth, hence its utilization for maintaining quality of life
cannot be overlooked. Importance of water increases manifolds in Pakistan being an agricultural
country with a share of agriculture in Gross Domestic Product estimated at about 24%. High
population growth has also added innermost pressure on this resource. Contrary to this Pakistan has
very little water storage capacity of 36 days in comparison with other Nations of the World and
resultantly requires additional demand for water to cater for its agricultural, commercial and
industrial use. Development of additional water storage reservoirs and management of existing
resources is therefore need of the hour to have a sound impact on our economy as well as national
integrity.
2. The water resources of Pakistan depend on the fluctuating weather pattern resulting in
melting of snow in the catchments area. Besides the natural factors, the other major reasons for the
shortage of water include reduction in capacity of major reservoirs and resultantly an alarming rise
of sedimentation has been observed. The century old irrigation system has been overloaded beyond
its cropping intensity of 50 %. To make things worse the system is not being supported with
complementary water saving, thus the agricultural requirements of water have increased by the same
proportion. Also Pakistan is on the brink of acute water shortage due to population explosion.
Moreover, the increase in cultivated area has also increased the demand of water, thereby worsening
the water shortage.
3. The available statistics show that if timely actions are not taken in this aspect then it
would be difficult to avert water crises. There are certain concerns which need to be analyzed for a
better strategy. Despite having a sizeable irrigation system in the world, our country is faced with
resource constraints and operational problems. Although Indus water treaty was signed in 1960
between Pakistan and India resulting in allocation of Jhelum, Chenab and Indus rivers to the former,
yet, over the past few decades’ breach of the treaty by India has resulted diversion of rivers flowing
towards Pakistan. In addition to this the existing canal network in our country has reduced
operational effectiveness owing to a number of technical issues and social factors. On the
institutional front, mechanisms for management of the irrigation supplies in line with the
requirements have not been refined and improved with time. Moreover, no major storage dams have
been constructed in the recent past which has greatly hampered the storage and usage capability
along with power generation requirement.
4. Although Pakistan is facing serious problems in water sector yet with sincere efforts a
way forward can be suggested and implemented. In this context short term, medium term and long
term strategies can be espoused. An extensive social awareness campaign, regulation of ground
water, identification of sites for small dams etc can be termed as some of the short term measures.
The mid-term measures include construction of small dams /storage reservoirs, recycling of
underground water, reusing saline water, improvement of irrigation system, and development of
drought forecasting mechanisms. As far as long term measures are concerned these include
construction of hydropower projects/dams, regulatory framework on ground water, desalination of
water etc
5. If Pakistan has to compete among the League of Nations then addressing the water woes is
must for efficient, more productive economic and social environment. A better water management
system is a first step towards this goal followed by development of additional water storage
resources. This can be better achieved through use of technology and allocating more economic
resources towards water storage infrastructure development. Political interference is the one of the
major constraints for better water management in the field of agriculture and power generation.
Irrigation department in Government sector will have to play a pivotal and effective role in this
scenario specially in water management if things are to be improved. Construction of storage
reservoirs supplemented by hydropower projects need to be given top priority if acute water shorted
is to be averted for our future generations.