“Access to safe water is a
fundamental human need and, therefore, a basic human right. Contaminated water
jeopardizes both the physical and social health of all people. It is an affront
to human dignity.”
—Kofi Annan
The provision of safe drinking water is among a basic human right of every
citizen. Realizing this fundamental human need, the Punjab government therefore,
is committed to create an enabling environment for the drinking water sector to
ensure reliable, sustainable and affordable drinking water to its growing
population. Based on the postulates of the millennium development goals, the
government is bent upon reducing the population of people without access to safe
drinking water to at least one half.
This is being done by adhering to the national drinking water policy according
to which none should be deprived of his basic human right. Thus, the formulation
of the Punjab drinking water policy is a document that provides an outline for a
plan of bringing about a tangible change in terms of water supply. This also
serves to show the provinces contribution and commitment towards development
goals.
Keeping in mind the demographics of Punjab, that is, it houses almost ninety
million people. Where less than 50% of this population has access to piped
drinking water. The percentage of rural population which has access to clean
drinking water is even less than 30%. There is an overwhelming dependence on
ground water in this Province for provision of clean drinking water. There is a
very little proportion of our population which is being provided water from
surface water and even lesser is reliant on natural springs. The Province does
not have major water storage facilities or rain water harvesting systems.
Further, the water sector suffers from water level depletion because of
excessive underground mining. This underground water supply does not get
replaced as there are no water accumulation mechanism such as reservoirs or
wetlands in the vicinity. Also, Industrial waste from industries have
contaminated a large amount of clean water due to which it remains far from safe
for consumption purposes. Due to lack of awareness and realization thousands of
cusecs of sweet drinkable water is being
wasted, thus leaving a large population deprived. Deficiency in the water supply
system poses big problems as the uses and requirement increases with the rapid
urbanization process. In this backdrop, the responsibility of the government is
enormous as it requires to provide the direction in which the Punjab government
will channelize its efforts and investments.
The key policy principles of the Punjab water policy focus on the fact that
water is a finite and essential resource, the use of which needs to be regulated
and measured in order to avoid wastage and misuse. Drinking water allocation for
domestic purposes will have priority over all other usages. Saving underground
water aquifer as well as surface water from contamination of all kinds will be
given top priority through legislation and regulation as well as increasing
public awareness. Resource allocation for provision and conservation of drinking
water will be based on need based criteria and will be aimed at creating an
equitable distribution between urban and rural Punjab. Areas where drinking
water is scarce or contaminated will be given priority. The community,
particularly in rural areas, will be organized and provided administrative,
technical and financial backup in order to effectively operate and maintain
rural water supply schemes. Public service provision will follow a reform
program which will be based on rationalization of tariff, reduction of
inefficiency cost and improvement of service delivery. Moreover, the private
sector and non-governmental organizations will be encouraged to develop and
implement service delivery models, in line with the objectives and principles of
this policy.
Taking the case of Lahore, the capital of Punjab, it has been revealed that the
domestic water supply to Lahore has always been through extraction of
groundwater. The water supply of most urban parts of Lahore city depends on WASA.
In addition, a large number of private housing schemes are responsible for
supplying water to their respective areas. As per WASA claims, safe drinking
water is supplied to 5.77 million people, that is, 89% of the total population
under its jurisdiction by means of tube wells.
Domestic water demand consists of different water uses within a house such as
drinking, cooking, bathing, and personal hygiene, etc. The demand varies
basically as per the living standards of the population. According to a study,
the largest amount of water - surface and groundwater - is used for irrigation.
As there is no provision of surface water for domestic purposes, therefore only
groundwater is used for domestic purposes. Next in importance is industrial and
then commercial use. Out of total groundwater extraction, 53% is used for
domestic purposes, 13% for industry, 10% for commercial and institutions and the
remaining 24% is used for irrigation.
The results of the study reveal that except for a partial reliance of the
agricultural sector on surface water resources, all other sectors are depend on
groundwater to meet their demands. Close to 73 per cent of recharge comes from
the River Ravi, 16 per cent from
the canal irrigation system, 5 per cent from rainfall and the remaining 6 per
cent from groundwater return flow from agricultural fields.
The net groundwater loss in the Lahore aquifer is equivalent to a 55 cm per year
drop in aquifer levels. During the last 20 years, the groundwater table in
Lahore has declined and the extensive use of groundwater in Lahore has led to
lowering of the water table by about half a meter per year during the last 30
years. This value will increase further as the water demand will escalate owing
to a rise in population. However, in urban parts of the city, the water table
drop may be higher in comparison to the rural areas due to excessive pumping and
insignificant recharge.
Thus, it can be concluded that water is crucial for the economy. Virtually every
sector and industry from agriculture, electric power generation and industrial
manufacturing to beverages, apparel, and tourism rely on it to grow and
ultimately sustain their business. It is now a well established fact that water
is becoming scarcer and there is every indication that its availability will be
further reduced in the future. Increasing demand, degrading quality, and growing
competition for water by various sectors is already putting enormous pressure on
businesses to reduce their consumption of clean water. Until recently,
industries used reliable and inexpensive water without any problem.
Thus, at this point in time there’s a need to recognize the value and importance
of coordination within government agencies on the water issue, and with other
stakeholders, the drinking water policy will provide a mechanism of
coordination, which, if implemented effectively, can lead to synergies being
identified and captured to the advantage of society. The Province has made an
effort to integrate the vertical programs of Federal and Provincial Governments
within the planning and development cycles down to district level. In the
meanwhile, some effort is also being put into problem areas that have turned
into structural stumbling blocks. This would ensure that the planning process is
geared toward maximizing value creation for the public. It is only through
absolute commitment and hardwork on part of the federal government that a large
number of people are and will be benefitting from the drinking water policy as
its results start to be seen on a large scale.