According to National Drinking Water Policy (NDWP), 35 percent of people in Pakistan have no
access to safe drinking water.

being an agricultural state Pakistan may face extremely tough situations.

National consensus may help to resolve this issue in addition government should introduce
‘Water metering and utilization charges’ to boost the importance of water as well as to reduce
its wastage.

INTRODUCTION:

Adequate access to the world's scarce resource, water, have become a serious threat to
national unity and integration.

WATER CRISIS:

IMPACTS OF WATER CRISIS ON NATIONAL UNITY:

1- Inter provincial disharmony.

2- Conflicts over the construction of new water reserviors.
3- Floods and drought force migration that brings ethnic issues.
4- Increasing electricity shortage.
5- Decreasing agricultural output leads to economic disparity among provinces and
regions.
Approximately 95 percent of Pakistan’s water is used for agriculture,
with 60 percent of its population directly involved in agriculture and
livestock, and 80 percent of exports based on these sectors
If prioritized, water can serve as the engine of economic growth and
regional trade expansion. With agriculture being Pakistan’s major sector
(constituting 20% of GDP) and largest water consumer
MEASURE TO SOLVE WATER CRISIS:

Immediate coordinated planning and implementation is required to avert

disaster.
CONCLUSION:

Pakistan’s vision 2025 addresses the issues of water security and aims for
increasing water storage capacity, improving agricultural efficiency by 20
percent, and ensuring the availability of clean drinking water to all Pakistanis.
calling on the political leadership to actively take up the water cause,
improving agricultural water use efficiency, maintaining and upgrading
existing water infrastructure, expanding the irrigation network to semi-arid and
arid districts in order to utilize arable land, depoliticizing water management,
raising community awareness about water conservation and water rights,
improving transboundary communication, and bringing the private sector and
institutes of higher learning into the water discourse.

1. how water crisis endanger national unity?

o a threat to the economy(as water security, food security, and energy security
inextricably linked).
o breed social unrest and health hazards (unemployment, poor socio-economic
indicators etc)
o threat to the national integrity and security (internecine conflict among
federating units and political exploitation of water share )
2. what are causes behind water crisis?
o cross-border water resources
o climate change
o water management
o interprovincial hydro-politics
o changing the demography of the country
3. Measures to mitigate the water crisis
the solution should be three legs table.
o legal framework
o improved institutional structure
o adaptation of new technologies

conclusion

material resource

1. read PILDAT report to comprehend internecine conflict among federating units for
water share(Kala Bgh dam is a classic example on that part for disharmony among
provinces )
2. read columns in the newspaperthat how water shortage ignite a chain of the
social unrest (eg. in Karachi every second day there was a demonstration against
water shortage and so on )and economic crisis (as agriculture took 80% of water and
it amounts 40% of employment and 70% of export so shortage of water mean
socioeconomic conflict which in turn endanger national unity)

ARTICLES DAWN:
Water Scarcity. Water scarcity can mean scarcity in availability due to physical shortage, or
scarcity in access due to the failure of institutions to ensure a regular supply or due to a
lack of adequate infrastructure.

According to the National Action Plan 2019-20, the per capita availability of
water in the country has decreased over the last seven decades to an alarming
level of 935 cubic metres from 5,260 cubic metres. 
Pakistan has only 30-day water storage in its dams. Apart from this, 49 per
cent losses are due to leakage, seepage, theft, evaporation, agriculture and
industries.
As pointed out in a recent World Bank report, only four crops — rice, wheat,
sugarcane and cotton — consume 80pc water, and contribute only 5pc to GDP.
It shows that the agriculture sector offers one of the poorest ‘crop per drop’
ratios.
It must take appropriate steps, such as, building multipurpose dams,
strengthening existing reservoirs, formulation of trustworthy and clear cut
policies that have population-based distribution of water, and, last but not
least, stop water losses from seepage.
The current situation is just another reminder that Pakistan may become the
most water-stressed nation in the region by 2040 because of multiple factors,
including climate change, population explosion, mismanagement of the water
economy, primitive irrigation practices, an obsolete water transmission
infrastructure, lack of reservoirs, etc. The country already ranks 14th among
the 17 ‘extremely high water-risk’ regions in the world, a list that includes hot
and dry countries like Saudi Arabia.

The present crisis should be a wake-up call for federal and provincial
authorities. It is time they took stock of Pakistan’s biggest existential challenge
and crafted holistic policies to improve governance in the water sector, built
reservoirs for times of shortages, and improved the water transmission
infrastructure.

The authorities must realise that we are running short of time and options,
just like we are running out of water.

Pakistan Institute of Development Economics

“Anyone who can solve the problems of water will be worthy of two noble prizes
– one for peace and one for science”
John F Kennedy[1]

The war of 21st century will be faught over water. Ismail serageldin

Over 80 percent of the total population in the country faces ‘severe water
scarcity’ for at least one month of the year.

only two-thirds of available water is being utilised while one-third of the water
is either lost or discharged into the sea.

Agriculture is the largest water consumer, accounting for 94 percent of annual

water withdrawals followed by households (5.3 percent) and industry
(including power generation) (0.8 percent)

The Indus Basin aquifer has been ranked as the 2nd most over-stressed
underground water reserve in the world.[12] The strain on groundwater is very
disturbing. Over 60 percent of irrigation, 70 percent of drinking water and 100
percent of the industry in the country depend on it.

He said IRSA was not implementing the Water Accord due to which a severe
water shortage was bound to hit Sindh. “Irsa is depriving the province of its
allocated share of water by giving reasons of an overall water scarcity in the
system,” he lamented.

The minister said that Sindh was provided 22 per cent less water from its
share as per Water Accord in April, 2021.

He condemned the role of Irsa in cutting down Sindh’s share in violation of

the 1991 accord and said that thousands of acres of standing crops would be
destroyed due to the crisis. “A crisis of drinking water will also emerge in
Karachi and other cities of the province,” he said, adding that Irsa should
immediately provide due share of water to the province enabling it to
overcome the crisis.