Thaindian News

Islamabad, Mar 21(ANI): The World Bank and the Asian Development Bank have termed Pakistan as one of the most “water stressed” countries in the world, which is likely to face an acute water shortage over the next five years owing to lack of water availability for irrigation, industry and human consumption.

According to Falkenmark Water Stress Indicator, a country or region is said to experience “water stress” when annual water supplies drop below 1,700 cubic metres per person per year.

Importance of water- a lifeline for the existence of every species on earth- is yet to be taken seriously in Pakistan, given the unscrupulous use of the water everywhere, the Daily Times reports.In Pakistan, water is excessively wasted at houses, offices, markets, and factories, with even fresh and drinking water being used for washing, gardening and other non-drinkable purposes.

Besides wastage, other key factors squeezing water availability in the country are a burgeoning population, climate change and a lack of water reservoirs.Up to 30 million gallons of water- equivalent to the quantity of water stored in Simly Dam- are wasted daily in Islamabad alone, owing to shabby pipelines.”We have prepared a PC-1 of 11 billion rupees that is lying with the Planning Commission for approval as the Cabinet Division has already given a go-ahead to replace and rehabilitate the outdated water supply network to save 30 million gallons water that goes to waste every day,” said a senior Capital Development Authority (CDA) official.

Pakistan’s water woes are also compounded by silting at the Tarbela and Mangla dams, with an internal official assessment admitting that it has lost 32 per cent of its storage capacity due to this problem.

The country has been termed as “water stressed” despite having a large surplus of unused water. Documents show about 30 MAF (million-acre-feet) as “available surplus” with a very high escapade to the sea. (ANI)