Ahsan for shift from water crisis to long term security planning
ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal warned that declining water availability, climate pressures, and mismanagement have turned water into a national security issue requiring consensus on reservoirs, conservation, and technology-driven governance.
While addressing a meeting of the Water Security Task Force in the Planning Commission on Wednesday, the Minister said that there is a need to shift from water crisis response to long-term security planning amid growing scarcity and climate threats. He warned that water scarcity has reached crisis levels, and the federal minister called for a unified national strategy focused on storage, efficiency, and technology to safeguard Pakistan’s future.
He said that Pakistan must treat water security as a national priority and move beyond fragmented, sectoral, and politically contested approaches.
READ MORE: Water security now a national security issue: Ahsan Iqbal1
He said that Pakistan must treat water security as a national priority and move beyond fragmented, sectoral, and politically contested approaches.
The Minister said that in the twenty-first century, national security is no longer defined only by borders, defence capability, or economic size. He said that it is equally linked with food security, energy security, climate resilience, public health, agriculture, and water security.
“Without water, there can be no agriculture. Without agriculture, there can be no food security. Without reliable water, there can be no industrial competitiveness, urban sustainability, rural prosperity, or stable economic growth,” the Minister said.
He said that Pakistan was once considered a water-abundant country, with per capita water availability exceeding 5,000 cubic meters per year at the time of independence. Today, it has declined to around the water-scarcity threshold of 1,000 cubic meters per person per year, making water security a present national emergency,” he said.
The Minister said that rapid population growth, rising urban demand, groundwater depletion, pressure on glaciers, erratic rainfall patterns, floods, and recurring droughts have intensified Pakistan’s water challenge. He added that the devastating floods of 2022, which affected more than 33 million people, demonstrated that Pakistan faces not only water scarcity but also water mismanagement — too little water in some seasons and too much in others.
He stressed that Pakistan’s water challenge can no longer be addressed in silos. “It is not merely an irrigation issue, an agricultural issue, a provincial issue, an infrastructure issue, or a climate issue; it is a national security issue,” he said.
He said that India’s attempts to use water as an instrument of pressure have highlighted a serious external dimension to Pakistan’s water security. The weaponisation of water, he said, poses a serious threat to Pakistan’s agriculture, food systems, livelihoods, hydropower potential, environmental flows, and ecological stability.
“Pakistan must treat water security with the same seriousness with which it treats energy security, food security and territorial security,” the Minister said.
He warned that Pakistan cannot afford to remain bogged down in unnecessary political controversies, institutional fragmentation, or narrow provincial positions. Water insecurity, he said, will not affect one province alone; it will affect the entire federation.
He said Sindh needs protection from drought, floods, and seawater intrusion; Punjab needs reliable irrigation for national food security; Balochistan needs water for human development, livestock, agriculture, and drought resilience; while Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan require hydrological safety, hydropower development, and glacier-risk management.
The Minister called for a new national consensus on strategic water storage, including large reservoirs, medium dams, small dams, recharge dams, delay-action dams, hill torrent management, floodwater storage, and urban rainwater harvesting.
“New reservoirs must not be viewed through the lens of old controversies. They must be viewed as national survival assets. Reservoirs are not against any province; water insecurity is against every province,” he said.
The Minister also emphasised that storage alone is not sufficient. He said that Pakistan must launch a National Water Efficiency and Conservation Mission to modernise irrigation, reduce conveyance losses, improve water productivity, and promote efficient use of water in agriculture, industry, and cities.
He said the mission should include canal modernisation, lining of critical watercourses, laser land levelling, drip and sprinkler irrigation where suitable, digital irrigation scheduling, climate-smart agriculture, wastewater recycling, and transparent water accounting through modern telemetry.
The Minister said Pakistan must adopt the principle of “more crop per drop and more value per drop.” This, he said, requires better seeds, water-efficient agriculture, crop zoning, higher-value and lower-water crops where appropriate, and aligning subsidies, support prices, and policy incentives with national water realities.
Expressing concern over groundwater depletion, the Minister said groundwater has become Pakistan’s silent lifeline, especially for agriculture and domestic use, but in many areas it is being extracted faster than it is being recharged.
He called for a national Groundwater Governance Framework based on aquifer mapping, recharge zones, extraction monitoring, regulation of high-stress areas, solar tube well management, and community-based groundwater conservation.
The Minister further said that the future of water management lies in science, data, and innovation. Pakistan must adopt real-time telemetry, satellite-based water monitoring, AI-enabled irrigation forecasting, precision agriculture, smart metering, aquifer mapping, flood modelling, drought early warning systems, and digital water accounting.
He said Pakistan needs a reliable National Water Information System covering river flows, canal withdrawals, groundwater levels, reservoir storage, irrigation demand, rainfall forecasts, flood risks, water quality, and climate projections.
“We cannot manage what we do not measure. Technology can help Pakistan reduce losses, increase transparency, improve crop productivity, strengthen early warning systems, and build trust among provinces and stakeholders,” he said.
The Minister proposed that the work of the Water Security Task Force be organised around six priorities:
National consensus on water storage through a roadmap for large, medium, and small reservoirs, recharge structures, and floodwater storage systems.
National Water Efficiency and Conservation Mission to improve irrigation efficiency, reduce losses, and increase water productivity.
Groundwater Governance Framework to regulate extraction, promote recharge, and protect aquifers.
Technology-enabled water management through telemetry, satellite imagery, AI forecasting, smart meters, and digital dashboards.
Climate-resilient water security integrating flood protection, drought preparedness, glacier monitoring, hill torrent management, drainage improvement, and early warning systems.
Institutional and financing reforms to align federal PSDP and provincial ADPs with water security priorities, mobilise climate finance, and develop bankable projects for development partners and the private sector.
The Minister said water security must be mainstreamed into national development planning and aligned with Pakistan’s economic transformation agenda under URAAN Pakistan. He said that PSDP and provincial ADPs should prioritise projects that strengthen storage, conservation, irrigation efficiency, flood protection, and climate resilience.
He said Pakistan’s choice is clear: either the country continues to view water through old fears, political controversies, and institutional silos, or it builds a strong national water security architecture for future generations.
“Water is not merely an environmental issue. It is an economic issue. It is a food issue. It is a public health issue. It is a provincial harmony issue. It is a national security issue,” the Minister said.
He concluded by saying that Pakistan must pursue water security through national consensus, scientific planning, provincial trust, modern technology, and urgent implementation.
“Our guiding principle should be simple: store more, waste less, measure every drop, grow more with every drop, protect every citizen from floods and droughts, and treat water as the foundation of Pakistan’s economic future,” he said.
The Minister said that Pakistan cannot achieve the vision of URAAN Pakistan without water security, and Pakistan cannot achieve water security without national unity, modern technology, and decisive action.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026