Twirp : Terrorist Wahabi Islamic Republic Pakistan 3

[Naresh]

<b>EARTHLY MATTERS : What Happened To All The Water?</b>

<b>Link to Article after 16-10-2008</b>

Suddenly it is headline news : Severe water shortages feared in Pakistan. Our policy makers are acting as if this is sudden and shocking news, but this was hardly unexpected. Experts have been saying for years that when it comes to food production in the subcontinent, the biggest problem will be shortage of water.

Indeed, the United Nations has been saying for a while now that by 2025, two thirds of the people on earth, particularly in Asia and Africa will be facing serious water shortages. According to Unesco, “Of all the social and natural crisis we humans face, the water crisis is the one that lies at the heart of our survival and that of our planet earth.”

Hence the global call for a “Blue Revolution” in which farmers can ensure more crops for each drop of precious fresh water. Even at a household level, we can help conserve water by using it more judiciously (turning off the tap when brushing teeth, fixing all leaking pipes, cutting down on shower time, using only a bucket to clean the car, mop the floors or water the lawn). In India, they have successfully experimented with harvesting rainwater from rooftops to use in homes.

The causes of water shortage in Pakistan are complex (with climate change certainly a contributing factor) and require sensitive handling –– already there is considerable strife between the four provinces over the sharing of water from the major rivers and their tributaries. Since the days of British colonial rule in the 19th century, there has been a large-scale construction of canals on the major rivers, especially the River Indus, to provide water for more crops to feed people. With the building of a series of dams and barrages, the country now boasts one of the world’s largest irrigation canal systems, which sustains millions of people. <b>But it now appears that with an increasing population (we are the world’s seventh most heavily populated country with one of the highest birth rates!) and more large dams planned on the River Indus, there is less and less water to share.</b>

Already the Indus has stopped meeting the Arabian Sea and there has been considerable sea intrusion in the south of the country. Experts say that the sea has intruded 54km upstream along the main course of the River Indus, destroying thousands of hectares of fertile land and contaminating underground water channels.

These problems are bound to increase in the coming years, since not enough freshwater is being released below the Kotri Barrage (the last barrage on the Indus). Indeed, many engineers in the country still feel that any freshwater that runs into the sea is being wasted, while those poor communities who live in the south say that their lives are being destroyed by the lack of freshwater and feel powerless to do anything about it.

In this climate of suspicion and acrimony, there is an urgent need for a dispassionate analysis of this complex situation. The government needs to start a campaign to ensure sustainable (and equitable) practices both at the local and national level to prevent severe water shortages in the future.

In addition, the waters of the River Indus are currently being shared with India and the Indus Water Treaty of 1960 is often held up as a model case of two hostile countries coming to an agreement over the sharing of rivers. But as increasing pressure is placed on precious water resources by both governments, will the 48-year-old treaty need to be revised?

<b>Many people in Pakistan are not even aware of basic facts such as that water availability in the country has declined from 5,300 cubic metres per capita in 1951 to 1,200 cubic metres per capita today, which is barely above the indicator of water scarcity of 1,000 cubic metres per capita.</b>

In addition, 90 per cent of Pakistan’s freshwater is consumed by the agriculture sector and demand is increasing daily. <b>However, 38 per cent of irrigated land is waterlogged and 14 per cent saline because of poor drainage and irrigation practices.</b> These practices need to be urgently improved with better technology.

According to WWF-Pakistan’s report, Pakistan’s Waters at Risk, which was published last year, “From 2010 onwards, we will have only 1,000 cubic meters (per person) to use; the water table is rapidly dropping every year. It has dropped more than 50 feet in Islamabad since 1986 and more than 20 feet since 1993 in Lahore… the water shortage in the agricultural sector will be 29 per cent by 2010 and 33 per cent by 2025.”

In the years to come, the country’s growing population will need more water and more food, which means even more water for agriculture. Instead of debating these issues sensibly and objectively, water sharing has become a politicised issue for the government of Pakistan, and as a result many people in the country do not seem to realise that without close cooperation and sustainable practices at every level, we are headed for a major crisis.

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