Grappling with impending water scarcity

The UN Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific has released its Statistical Yearbook for 2011, which contains a dire warning of increased water scarcity in Pakistan. It says changing weather patterns across the world have increased occurrences and intensities of extreme events of rain, floods, droughts and cyclones, such as those afflicting Australia, China, Myanmar and Pakistan. Asia and the Pacific have the highest annual water withdrawal of all the world's regions because of their geographical size, population and irrigation practices - all reasons apply to Pakistan. Hence, the yearbook notes, natural disasters started denting Pakistan's economy from 2001-05 when economic losses rose to $1.1 billion, going up to $1.8 billion in the 2006-10 period. Last year's floods affected 18 million people causing 2,100 deaths. And economic loss reached $7.4 billion, which came to 4.9 percent of the GDP. The preceding details make it plain that climate change has taken effect, and the natural calamities Pakistan has experienced two years in a row were not unforeseen events. And also that, floods have been causing harm not only to life and property but also economic growth. Yet, the realisation does not seem to have dawned on the government. It acted completely in surprise when disastrous rains hit Sindh this year. Our policymakers need to understand two fast emerging realities and make necessary preparations to deal with them. One of course is that weather patterns are changing, and consequently the frequency and intensity of rains and droughts are to increase. That calls for adoption of preventive measures, such as construction of embankments and levees in the flood-prone areas and removal of encroachments from riverbanks to allow flow of excess water. Second is a long-term threat to water security. Water scarcity is becoming a world-wide issue having the potential of igniting conflicts. As noted earlier, Pakistan is already a water-stressed country. High population growth rate and outdated irrigation practices exacerbate the situation. The effect is manifesting itself in inter-provincial disputes over water distribution. Meanwhile, Himalayan glaciers - aptly described as water banks - are melting. Gradual depletion of these banks' reserves poses serious problems, especially to countries directly benefiting from them. Growth of Pakistan's agrarian economy is tied to water. Ensuring water security therefore ought to be treated as a priority economic issue. There are at least three immediate steps that Pakistan needs to take in this regard. First, of course, is sorting out the ongoing issues with India over use of the rivers that fall within this country's share under the Indus Water Treaty. Second, dams and reservoirs must be built to store water for better utilisation. Instead of wasting precious time in endless controversies over construction of big dams, such as Kalabagh Dam, attention needs to be focussed on non-controversial easily doable projects. Some have been sitting in the pipeline for a long time. The Diamer-Bhasha Dam in Gilgit-Baltistan, for example, was first inaugurated by the then president, Pervez Musharraf, in 2006; five years on, things remain stuck at the starting point. Prime Minister Gilani announced the other day that he would inaugurate the project on October 18. Third, the government must devise campaigns to discourage outdated and wasteful irrigation methods. A well thought-out water conservation policy, covering both domestic and agricultural irrigation sectors, is also in order. Copyright Business Recorder, 2011