Raging public debate on Pakistan’s water shortage is a welcome change. Even as the torrent of corruption & rigging allegations dominate the media landscape, the electorate is demanding that politicians and state institutions give answers on issues faced by ordinary people every day.
The consensus on dam construction is one step, which if reaches fruition will help address supply side challenge faced in irrigation. In contrast, while domestic consumption of water for drinking and sanitation only accounts for 5 percent of aggregate water demand, it affects the entire population.
Of this, between 60 – 70 percent relies on groundwater for domestic consumption, meaning that groundwater is relied upon heavily even in rural areas where canal irrigation is available. Despite dirt cheap pricing of canal water, its supply is nearly not enough to meet the rural domestic demand.
Furthermore, 94 percent of the groundwater extracted is for irrigation, according to a 2010 report by NGWA, a global groundwater association. This indicates that while groundwater maybe the primary source meeting demand for household use, it is not the primary cause groundwater extraction.
Pakistanis abstract close to 70 billion cubic meters of groundwater annually, which is the second highest level of extraction on per capita basis after China. Similar in population to Pakistan, Indonesia abstracts only 15 billion cubic meters annually, of which 93 percent is for domestic consumption due to its few sources of freshwater through rivers and glaciers.
Thus, Pakistan in the past 4 decades has overexploited groundwater to dangerous levels. Of course, groundwater is a renewable source and groundwater consumption in and of itself is not a bad thing. Except that over abstraction of groundwater has scientifically been proven to cause water tables to drop drastically, tapping into new water pockets tainted by toxins, and bacteria in soil content.
According to a research published by Council for Research in Water Resources, about 88 million Pakistanis live in areas at high risk of arsenic poisoning due to tainted ground water consumption. Of these, 50 million people are estimated to have already been affected.
Note that World Health Organization estimates that up to 150 million people globally is drinking, cooking and farming using water laced with arsenic. If the PCRWC’s figures are correct, Pakistanis constitute one-third of the global population affected by arsenic contamination.
That is a usually high share. Failure to improve freshwater infrastructure has shifted Pakistanis reliance on groundwater, that Pakistani worry little about due to its abundance and renewability. However, groundwater extraction is poorly regulated, and may soon turn into a healthcare nightmare if not addressed.
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