Water Crisis in Pakistan

A Lecture To Students

ByMr. Allah Dad

Khan

SOURCES OF WATER

Indus Basin River

The Indus river basin constitutes of the mountain basins

Indus plain, Karachi plains and desert areas of Sindh. Its source of water is snowing, glacier melting and rainfalls.

Closed basin Kharan desert

It consists of areas of mountain basins of Quetta. Its main sources of water are rainfall and nominal snow.

Makran coastal basin Makran coastal basin constitutes of streams of Malir, Hub,

Porali, Hingol, and Kech. Its main source of water is rainfall.

Ground Water

Ground water is also found in some rain-fed (barani) lands

and inter-mountain valleys at depths varying from 100 to 200 feet.

Water reservoirs

Pakistan is having three basic reservoirs, namely mangla dam reservoir, Terbela dam reservoir and Chashma barrage reservoir. More small reservoirs like Warsak, Khanpur and Kinjhar lake Are also included as small storage.

 

Utilization Of Water 

Irrigation

Out of 240.22 maf, 172.21 maf water is utilized for irrigation

purposes.

Drinking

Most of the rural and urban water is supplied from ground water through tube wells and hand pumps. Net consumption is normally about 2% of the total water available.

Industry Water is also utilized in Industries basically for cooling

purposes and also in manufacturing processes. This utility is less than 1%.

Shortage of water

As we all know that now a days our country is facing severe shortage of water. There are two main reasons, one natural due to prolong drought---which is beyond the control of a man, and the other due to the gross negligence in the development and miss-management of water resources.

Impact on economy / society

Less water means less agricultural yields and to fulfill the food requirements of the nation, we will be dependent on other countries.

Due to less production of main crops, which are wheat, cotton, sugar cane and rice, the Industries related to them will suffer adversely

Less agricultural outputs will compel people to head towards urban areas for jobs, which will increase the unemployment further.

The distribution of water is controlled from the center by irsa (Indus river system authority) as per 1991 agreement between the provinces. Now the shortage of water will cause disputes between the provinces, which may cause harm to the national integrity.

Water Issue between Pakistan & India

Concern is growing in Pakistan that India is controlling the water flow of rivers that flow from India into Pakistan.

Pakistan has raised objections to Indian water projects, but a World Bank-appointed neutral expert rejected most of the Pakistani objections.

Pakistani commentators, think that India is controlling the river waters to strangulate Pakistani agriculture, which could affect Pakistani exports

and increase its dependency on food imports.

Conclusion

The problems faced by the water sector in the country are many, acute and serious. 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. At the same time it will enable us to utilize every drop of our water for our bright future.

The End