Dr Farrukh Saleem, while delivering the facts and figures about water, said that 80 per cent of the earth's surface was water, 97 per cent of all water was salt water, only 3 per cent of all water was drinking water and of the 3 per cent drinking water, 2 per cent was currently frozen and only 1 per cent of the earth's water was available for drinking purposes.
Syed Jamaat Ali Shah, Indus Water Commissioner, Ministry of Water & Power read his paper on Indus Water Treaty & its implementation in which he said that many people did not know that the Indian government had blocked the canal water in 1948 that brought both countries to the brink of a war. Before and after the IWT, the Indians had constructed many small and big dams while the successive Pakistani governments did not take proactive measures. The Mangla and Tarbela Dams were constructed only as a result of the IWT and since then, no big damn has been constructed.
The Indians are constructing Baglihar, Kishan Ganga and Wuller Dams will create water scarcity in Pakistan, he told. Analyzing Pakistans Irrigation System was the subject of Sardar Muhammad Tariq, Former member Water, WAPDA, & Chairman, Pakistan Water Partnership (PWP).
He noted that Pakistan was one of the most arid countries in the world with an average rainfall of only 250 millimeters. "A large part of the country, its irrigation and agriculture is dependent on rainfall. But given the scarcity of water resources, the practices are not suitable. Our canals system needs tremendous improvement and there is a dire need of sensitisation for both the individuals and the institutions to make better use of water," he added. "But unfortunately, we have no plans; we have no vision and our relevant institutions are just not working."
We must all understand and know that our water management practices are incompetent. Our water storage installations are in extremely bad conditions and look at the recent example of Sukkur Barrage, he added. Dr Zafar Altaf, Former Federal Secretary Agriculture, Ministry of Food & Agriculture read Pakistans Water Practices for Agricultural Use paper and observed that the situation of water management in Pakistan at the institutional level was obsolete and practices wasteful.
The relationship between the irrigation institutions and the farmers is that of master and slaves and there is no concept of budgeting the water quantity. The institutions are not putting modern concepts into practice and it is commonly believed that the seawater is absolutely useless, which is not true, he stated.
"Unfortunately, the rule of the elite is also marring the agriculture sector where the only a few influential people are ruling the millions of farmers in Pakistan and the relevant laws are just not implemented to protect the innocent farmers," he observed. Altaf said that there were also crop-based mafias operating in Pakistan that were responsible for misallocation and destruction of agricultural norms.
Sardar Attique Ahmed Khan, Prime Minister, Azad Jammu & Kashmir addressed on National Hydroelectric Power Generation: Potential vs Practices and said that the societies and soils which did not have the running wealth of waters were bound to face three catastrophes: starvation; industrial paralysis and social unrest. This negative phenomenon can result either from water shortage or from flawed management. Therefore we should take it as a timely caution, if not warning, he noted.
Brig (Retd) Ashfaque Ahmed, Executive Director, Laraib Energy Ltd spoke on Private Hydroelectric Power Generation: Potential vs Practices. He said that the share of hydropower electric power generation in Pakistan's total energy mix was nearly 33 per cent and because of the growing energy needs, the share was shrinking against the energy generation share of the thermal.
It is extremely unfortunate that many governments in Pakistan have repeatedly ignored the potential of nearly 28,000 megawatts that the development of hydroelectric installations could generate, he said.
Dr Talib Lashari, Executive Coordinator, The Network for Consumer Rights & Protection talked on Drinking Water Issues and noted that 1.8 million children were dying every year as a result of diseases caused by contaminated water and poor sanitation. This amounts to around 5000 deaths a day. The simple act of washing hands with soap and water can reduce diarrhoeal diseases by over 40 per cent, he revealed. He said that around 90 per cent of incidences of water-related diseases were due to unsafe water supply, sanitation and hygiene and was mostly concentrated on children in developing countries.
The Centre for Research and Security Studies (CRSS), Pakistans first civil society initiative committed to discussing crucial issues that the country is facing and its approach is to suggest solutions and encourage the intelligentsia and decision makers to exhibit creativity in addressing problems that are detrimental to Pakistans future growth, strength and prosperity.
(THE NATION)
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