Water is vital for life but Pakistan faces a severe water crisis. Pakistan's per capita water availability has declined from 1500 cubic meters in 2009 to under 1000 cubic meters currently, and is projected to fall further to 1000 cubic meters by 2025, at which point Pakistan will face absolute water scarcity. The crisis is driven by lack of water storage infrastructure, wasteful water usage, and failure of governments to adequately address the problem despite warnings from organizations for decades.
3. WATER.
Water is a transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical
substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's streams, lakes, and
oceans, and the fluids of most living organisms. It is vital for all known
forms of life, even though it provides no calories or organic nutrients
Density: 997 kg/m³
Melting point: 0 °C
Boiling point: 100 °C
Formula: H2O
Molar mass: 18.01528 g/mole
7. Water crisis in Pakistan.
A report by IMF suggests that Pakistan’s per capita water availability is 1,017
cubic meters which was 1500 cubic meters in 2009 and the coming years it
will further deplete to 1000 cubic meters.
By the way, one cubic meter of water is equal to 1000 liters. So 1000 cubic
meters means 1 million liters. And if you further scrutinize the 1000 liters of
water, a general global perception makes it equivalent to;
3,300 cup teas
28 showers
13 baths
Flushing the toilet more than 100 times
8. National and International Reports
IMF report says Pakistan is on number 3rd in the list of countries that face acute
water shortages. And there are also reports from the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP) and Pakistan Council of Research in Water
Resources (PCRWR) which reveal similar statistics. By 2025 Pakistan will reach
to a level of absolute water scarcity, and this wouldn’t only hit the deserts of the
south but the North as well that is known for snow-filled mountains, and more
than 5000 glaciers, Neil Buhne, UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Pakistan
describes in the report.
*The situation is further expected to worsen by 2040
when Pakistan might become the most water-stressed
country in the region*
9. These warnings don’t come out as a sudden
revelation but the national and international
organizations have been alerting Pakistani
governments for decades.
10. A 2016 report by PCRWR highlights that Pakistan had already touched the water
stress line in 1990 and by 2005 it had crossed the red area, i.e., “water scarcity line.”
Today in 2019, the situation has far more worsened.
A World Economic Forum report
mentions water a major threat for
11. Causes of water crisis
According to the Un-Water, a United Nations agency that coordinate with
UN countries on water and sanitation issues, describes water scarcity as
the physical shortage of water supply, scarcity of water due to inadequate
infrastructure or the scarcity of water due to the failure of government
organization in providing adequate water supply in a particular region.
12. Pakistan, Among The Most Water Wasting Countries
The global studies rank Pakistan at number 4th among the most water-
consuming countries. Being an agriculture-dependent country, Pakistan
hugely relies on its canal network where water is highly underpriced to the
extent that not more than a quarter of the annual operational and
maintenance cost is recovered.
Out of total demand in Pakistan, nearly 90% of the water is consumed by
agriculture and industry. Our main supply line of Indus Basin originates
from Mount Kailash range in Tibet that runs into the Arabian Sea.
13.
14. Other than international water controversy with India, political differences
among provinces, lack of seriousness from the governments in the center don’t
allow us to build additional large scale reservoirs along the route which only
results in the wastage of precious water every year.
*Pakistan receives around 145
million acre-feet of water
every year but only saves 13.7
million acre-feet in its fragile
storage system*
15.
16. Dependence on only a few national dams including Tarbela and
Mangla which too have lost their original capacities of water storage
ever since their inception, can a single Bhasha dam help us store
water for all our needs is still a question.
Tarbela Dam
Mangla Dam | Jhelum
17. Domestic Water Abuse
All major metropolitan cities of Pakistan including Lahore and Karachi have the
least availability of drinkable water. Half a century old water supply lines to most
of the urban areas are rusty and cracked that allow sewerage water to seep into
the drinking water lines in many old parts of the cities.
18. *At homes, we still don’t get
frightened to waste water while
washing our garage, cars even the
gates, every day. Taps run freely
losing hundreds of liters every day
in a house*