Pakistan to run dry by 2025?
It is no doubt that Pakistan is going through a major water crisis and is expected to suffer severe water shortage in the coming years. Recently Muhammad Ashraf, Chairman, Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR) in Islamabad, posted an exclusive news story about major water crisis in Pakistan. The story was posted under Pakistan’s Water Apocalypse – a Geo News Exclusive.
“Pakistan is quickly and alarmingly becoming a water-scarce country,”
“Over the past several years, by all indicators, In 1950, the per capita water availability in Pakistan was over 5,000 m3. In 1990, that capacity fell, bringing the country dangerously close to the “water-stress line” and in 2005, it crossed the “water-scarcity line,”” said Ashraf.
After the above stats Ashraf clearly stated that if the same situation will continue, Pakistan will face absolute water scarcity line by 2025. This means that the country will run dry and hence the population will be deprived of any kind of immune from the disaster.
This is taken from Google Earth. The images shown in the post are of famous Hanna Lake near suburbs of Quetta, Balochistan. Just with in the time span of 10 years the lake went dead dry and the current situation is that locals are driving vehicles on the lake bed.
The condition is likely to become worse in the coming years because of the rapid population growth, lack of water storage, silting of the present reservoirs due to inefficient watershed management activities, low system efficiency, as more than 60 per cent of the water is lost during conveyance and application in the field, groundwater depletion and unutilised potential of hill torrents as per his report.
The report also highlights many other reasons behind the water crisis. Ashraf, provided possible solutions for the issue through which we can overcome the crisis in coming years. The two foremost is the population control and building more reservoirs.
He also stressed that Pakistam should learn from other water-scarced countries which have taken their condition seriously and worked towards adequate water management measures.
“A 2017 UN water report states that in “a country like Pakistan water is almost a free commodity. Unlike electricity, there are no water meters in houses where people pay according to usage. Thus, there is enormous, unmeasured water wastage. To sensitise the public on water wastage it is critical that water usage is metered.””
To improve the condition of water crisis it is also very important for the government and locals both to spread mass awareness about the issue. It is everyone’s duty to strictly take measures and use less water so that the country does not run dry in few years.
Read the complete report by Muhammad Ashraf here: https://www.geo.tv/latest/198488-pakistans-water-taps-to-run-dry-by-2025
