Water crisis in pakistan

Jebran Ali jatt

Pakistan could run dry by 2025 as its water shortage is reaching an alarming level. the authorities remain negligent aboutthe crisis that's posing a serious threat to the country's stability, reports shah meer baloch.

According to the recent report by the international monetory fund, pakistan is on third rank in the entire world facing acute water shortage. Reports by the united nations devolpment programme and the pakistan council of reasearch in water resources also warn the authorities that the south asian countries will reach absolute water scarcity by 2025. Researchers predict that pakistan is on its way to becoming the most water-stressed country in the region by the year 2040. it is not the first time that devolpment and research organizations have alerted pakistani authorities about an impending crisis which some analysts say poses a bigger threat threat to the country than terrorism.

A WATER INTENSIVE COUNTRY
Pakistan has the world's fourth highest rate of water use. its water intensity rate - the amount of water , in cubic meters, used per unit GDP is the worls's highest. according to the IMF, Pakistan's per capita annual water availability is 1,017 cubic meters-perilously close to the scarcity threshold of 1000 cubic meters. Back in 2009, pakistan's water availibilty was about 1,500 cubic meters. The bulk of pakistan's farmland is irrigated through canal system but the IMF says in a report that canal water is vastly underpiced, Recovering only a quater of annual operating and maintence costs. Meanwhile, agriculture, Which consumes almost all annual available surface water, is largely untaxed.

CLIMATE CHANGE
Water scarcity in pakistan has been accompained by rising tempratures. In may 2019 at least 65 people died from heatstroke in the sothern city karachi, at least 1200 people died during a spate of extremely hot weather. "Heat waves and droughts in pakistan are a result of climate change," Mian Ahmed Naeem Salik, an environmental expert and research fellow at the institute of strategic studies in Islamabad, told DW. The moonsoon season has become errartic in the past few years. The winter season is shrunk from four to two months in many parts of the country on top of it, Pakistan cannot save floodwater due to scaricity of dams,"Salik said. "At the time of pakistan's birth 1947, forests accounted for about 5 percent of the nations area but they have now dropped to only 2 percent. Pakistan must invest in building water reserviors and plant more trees," he added. The terbela dams and mangla dams, the country's two major water reservoirs, reached their dead levels last days, according to media reports. The news sparked a debate on sociol media over the inaction of authorities in the face of this crisis. " we have only two big reservoirs and we can save water only for 30 day. India can store water for 190 days whereas the US can do it for 900 days. Pakistan recieves around 145 million acre feet of water every year but can only save 13.7 million acre feet. Pakistan needs 40 million acre feet of water but 29 million acre feet of our floodwater is wasted because we have not enough dams.