Severe water crisis

There is a severe water shortage that should have rung a bell among dwellers and policymakers in the country. According to Indus River System Authority (IRSA), the water shortage in the country’s two largest dams – Tarbela and Mangla – is only for the next six days. The water crisis can aggravate in the coming days if the glaciers in the north do not melt.

The water crisis will also lead to an intense confrontation between provinces in the coming months. Sindh has accused the federal government of not giving the province its due share and diverting it to Punjab. An IRSA spokesman has clarified that no excess was being done with any province and they were being provided water under the 1991 water accord. He claimed that more water was provided to Sindh than Punjab province during recent cotton cultivation. Sindh only faced four percent water shortage so far while Punjab had 16 percent shortage. Rather than resolving the matter, we have once again resorted to politics which will show reduce our woes.

The IRSA has said the authority cannot slash the water share of any province as they have their own representative to decide water distribution. There are also concerns about rice cultivation and the upcoming Kharif season. However, the authority is not concerned saying there are one million acres of water in the dams which will be provided to the provinces. While the authority insists there is a judicious distribution of water, the situation presents a rather different picture.

A recent UN report says that Pakistan will run out of water in the next four years. The country will have to confront the threat of severe water shortage in the coming decade, apart from the non-traditional threats and facing the adverse effects of climate change. In such a situation, the water crisis will further worsen in the future. However, this has not yet drawn the required attention of the concerned authorities and policymakers.

The IMF has ranked Pakistan third among countries facing a severe water crisis. The country will face extreme droughts in the coming years even worse than Ethiopia. This will lead to severe food shortages and even internal strife, conflict, and civil war. This crisis should garner the immediate attention of the government.