Inordinate delay in water policy

Hopes lifted as the draft National Water Policy moved to the Council of Common Interest for approval in 2017– that’s the last we heard and there has been no development since. This is not unusual in the country especially for a subject like water; the struggle for a formal water policy has been long and unyielding. The first draft was prepared in 2002-2005, which couldn’t move beyond that; another attempt was made in 2010, which took two years to finalise that too could not get the approval over federal versus provincial domain debate. The latest attempt was made in 2015, which has again taken two years to reach the Council of Common Interests.

While the country nears towards water scarcity, the governments have been unsuccessful in providing with sound, formal national water policy. Ironically, India, Bangladesh and Nepal have had their water policies in place for decades. Little is known about the details of the policy, but experts and industry insiders say that the water policy should have representations from all sectors and should have all the following aspects covered: objectives, plan of action, implementation methodologies and the time frame. The water policy is likely to have Indus Water Treaty as its part, but the experts are also of the view that the policy should look beyond Indus Water Treaty as it does not talk about the impact of climate change on water availability and the groundwater usage.

Critical areas include climate change, building storage capacity, addressing inefficient irrigation practices, rationalising household, industrial and commercial water use, introducing water rights and proper pricing. Last year, Hisar Foundation’s report, ‘Recommendations for Pakistan’s National Water Policy Framework’ highlighted 5 key focus areas for the policy to look at: improving water access, financing the urban and rural water value chain, safeguarding the Indus Basin and its infrastructure, improving water institutions and their governance, and finally building a base for science, technology, and social aspects of water.

First, the country needs to address water issues in irrigation as over 90 percent of the water consumption is by the agriculture sector. Smarter and efficient methods need to be adopted that consume less water. Efforts to bring agriculture in the tax net as well as fixing the water tariffs and the uniform pricing structure are much needed. Apart from reforming the water pricing for the commercial and the industrial sector, the scarce resource needs to be priced adequately for the domestic and household consumers as well (more on water pricing in the coming days).

Infrastructure investment in water for conservation, recycling water treatment, waste management should also be the government’s top priority among other infrastructure projects. Finally, a lot can be also achieved with public awareness; awareness campaigns and behavioural sensitisation should represent a key area of the National Water Policy. The goal of the national water policy should be to bring water quality, equality and sustainability to the forefront.