Water scarcity in Pakistan-

causes and remedies

MUSHTAQ AHMAD MAHINDRO

 Idioms
1. The milk of human kindness – Softness of heart
2. Monroe doctrine – (1823-1850) That the American states are
never to entangle themselves in the broils of Europe and also
opposed European colonialism in the Americas.
3. Maiden speech – First speech
4. On the spur of the moment – Without deliberation, at once.
5. To make hay while the sun shines – To make the best use of a
favorable opportunity
6. To take the words out of the mouth of – to anticipate a person
 Corresponding conjunctions

1. Though is followed by yet, nevertheless

2. Whether “ or
3. Either “ or
4. Neither “ nor
5. Both “ and
6. Not only “ but also
Food preservatives:

A preservative is a chemical substance that is added to the

food products, beverages, pharmaceutical drugs, paints,
biological samples, and cosmetics to prevent decomposition
by microbial growth or by undesirable chemical changes.
 Commonly used food preservatives are Sodium benzoate
(C6 H5 COO Na), Potassium meta bisulfite (K2 S2 O5).
Potassium Met bisulfite is used in preserving citrus juices and
fruit jams by combining with citric acid. (it is the SO2 produced
as a result of chemical reaction between the two that acts as
anti bacterial agent).
 Vinegar ( ‫ ) سرکہ‬is diluted Acetic acid (CH3 COOH)- could be
used to preserve the pickles.
 Antioxidants:
 Antioxidants are compounds that inhibit oxidation leading to
chain reactions that may damage the cells of organisms.
Antioxidants such as ascorbic acid (vitamin C) terminate these
chain reactions. To balance the oxidative stress, plants and
animals maintain complex systems of overlapping
antioxidants, such as enzymes like catalase , produced
internally, or the dietary antioxidants vitamin C and vitamin E.
 Antioxidants are two entirely different groups of substances:
industrial chemicals that are added to products to prevent
oxidation, and naturally occurring compounds that are present
in foods and tissue. The former, industrial antioxidants, have
diverse uses: acting as preservatives in food and cosmetics,
and being oxidation-inhibitors in fuels.
 Water scarcity - A worldwide phenomenon
 71% Earth's surface covered with water, oceans holding about 96.5 percent of
all Earth's water.
The nature and extent of the problem
 UNDP and the Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources have alerted that the country
will reach absolute water scarcity by the year 2025.
 At present Pakistan is facing a shortage of around 33 Million Acre Feet (MAF) of water.
According to a 2015 IMF report, the demand for water in 2025 will be 274 MAF against supply
191 MAF, resulting in a gap of 83 MAF.
 The Falken mark Water Stress Indicator to calculate the water requirement per person, sets
1,000 cubic meters as the threshold where water shortage starts hurting economic growth.
 In Pakistan 5,650 cubic meter was available in 1947 which came down to 850 in 2017, and is
expected to come down to 500 cubic meter by the year 2025. The reason being increase in
population and industrial use.
 According to the Indus River System Authority (IRSA) we are throwing around 30 MAF water
annually into the Arabian Sea which could be saved by increasing the inland reservoir
capacity.
 Sector wise consumption of water
 95% by Irrigation and livestock
 4% by Municipalities/Urban areas
 1% by industries.
The leading causes of the problem
 About 80 percent area of Pakistan falls in the arid and semi-arid category.
 Erratic, unpredictable and uneven nature of rainfall.
 Depleting storage capacity due to silting of dam reservoirs
 Avoidance of long-term projects by the governments in the past after Ayyub era.
 Indus Basin water treaty 1960, building of Mangla and Tarbela dams, and link canals
 Delay in building Bhasha dam, Dasu dams, and of Kalabagh
 Obstructiuon via Baghliar and Kishin Ganga dams in Kashmir by India
 Effect on the economy

 Agriculturesector of Pakistan accounts for 21 percent to

our GDP. The 70 percent of our exports are from agricultural
origin including the textiles as a value-added commodity
based on one crop i.e. Cotton.
 The per acre yield of other major crops like wheat, rice and
sugarcane are quite low as per international standards due
to insufficient water availability and high salinity level of
underground water.
 Solutions
 Building of more dams, and conservation of the water by saving it from going
into the Sea.
 Conserving & saving the existing water by consumptive use of water, and
leveling of fields in agriculture sector.
 Changing of cropping Pattern that is instead of rice and sugar-cane to less
water requirement crops like wheat, oilseed, pulses, and cotton.
 Cementing of watercourses, the lining of canals, and proper leveling of fields
to avoid seepage.
 Introduction of water saving technology like drip and sprinkling irrigation
 Creating awareness among the masses to conserve water
 Pricing of water to check the wastage of water in the urban areas
 Desalinization of Sea water
 Afghanistan and Pakistan’s Water Conflict

 TheKabul River has become a potential source of conflict between

Afghanistan and Pakistan. This river supplies 26 percent of the annual flow
of water before draining into the Indus River near Attock in Pakistan.
 On the other hand, it contributes 25 MAF to the economy of Pakistan.
 The Afghan government has announced that it will soon construct Shahtoot
Dam on the Kabul River. The dam is expected to hold 146 million cubic
meters of potable water for 2 million Kabul residents and irrigate 4,000
hectares of land.
 Theproject is a component of Afghanistan’s India-backed ambitious plans
of building 12 more dams on the Kabul River basin.
 The Kabul River, on the other hand, is fundamental in meeting
the demands for irrigation, potable water, and power in Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa (KPK).
 The river provides 85 percent of irrigation in Charsada, 80
percent in Peshawar, and 47.5 percent in Nowshera — and is
the sole source of drinking water for millions of Pakistanis
living around the basin.
 At
the moment Kabul is not willing to sign an agreement with Pakistan.
However, international law enjoins Afghanistan to respect the rights of
Pakistan as the lower riparian of the Kabul River.

A “win-win” solution, therefore, requires Afghanistan to ensure

“equitable” and “reasonable” use of the river — under the framework
of the 1997 UN Convention on Non-Navigational Uses of International
Watercourses — to cause no harm to Pakistan. And, in response,
Pakistan should contribute to the economic development of
Afghanistan, especially by opening its trade and transit routes for the
Afghan businesses.
 International law includes:
1. Equitable distribution of shared watercourses;
2. Commitment not to cause ‘substantial injury’ to co-riparian states,
3. All basin states shall, while managing the waters of an
international drainage basin in their respective territories, have due
regard to ‘the obligation not to cause significant harm to other
basin states’;
4. Each basin state is entitled, within its territory, to a reasonable and
equitable share in the beneficial use of the waters of an
international drainage basin…without causing substantial injury to
a co-riparian state.
Thank you