Water Crisis – Causes

According to experts the growing population and urbanizations are the leading causes of the water crisis in
Pakistan. Several other factors contributing to the water problem include;

1. Mismanagement

Wastage of drinking water in non-productive means

Water wastage is one of the most significant issues in Pakistan, and as the water crisis worsen, no measures
seem to have been adopted by the government and individuals to prevent this calamity. The mismanagement
of water takes place at many levels. At the individual level, we waste water carelessly while; Washing
cars/bikes at homes and service stations, Washing clothes or kitchen utensils and keeping the tap open,
Washing garages and washroom every day; even the main gate of our home. Even worse, one will be surprised
to know that Lahore Waste Management Company washes the Lahore city roads with drinkable water. 30,500
liters of drinking water gets wasted every day. Most of the farmlands in the country are irrigated through a
canal system and according to IMF, this canal water is vastly underpriced and recovers only one-quarter of
annual operating and maintenance costs. Surprisingly, agriculture which consumes fresh water the most is
mainly untaxed, making it a burden on our economy. Agriculture sector consumes up to 90% of the available
fresh water of the country. As with many sectors, the Government of Pakistan is spending less than 0.18% of
GDP on agricultural research which is among the lowest in the world. As the water crisis worsens in Pakistan,
foreign diplomats and activists have taken to social media, urging people to save water." Martin Kobler,
German ambassador to Pakistan, wrote on Twitter. "Using a bucket to save water while washing my car!
#Pakistan ranks third amongst countries facing water shortage. One major reason is excessive use. 100 liters
wasted washing a car with running tap water. Many ways to #SaveWater in our daily life!

Pakistan has the largest contiguous irrigation system in the world. It is estimated that 40 to 50 per cent of
water is lost between the canal head works to the farm gate. Lining of Canals is considered a good solution to
this problem. But lining of canals in Sindh is a great issue as canals will need to be closed long enough to
deprive the farmers of at least one crop and the farmers are not willing to pay this price for Canal Lining. The
irrigation application rates within the farms are also high because of reliance on the conventional flood
irrigation. With the passage of time, water as a commodity is becoming more and more precious. Above all it
is a finite source. This high percentage of wastage, therefore, cannot be afforded for long. Wastage of water
through poor infrastructure or poor water management constitutes a major issue related to the water resources
of Pakistan. Another aspect of this issue is the productivity of the farms against per cusec of irrigation water.
Pakistan has a much lower rate of production. The irrigation efficiency, therefore, needs to be enhanced.

2. Climate Change

In Pakistan, water scarcity has been accompanied by an extreme rise in temperatures.Around 65 people died
from heatstroke in the Karachi in May this year while in 2015, 1200 lost their lives due to scorching weather.
The monsoon season has also become erratic in the past few years and the winter season has shrunk from four
to two months. It seems like the dry spell is gradually at increase. This year, our river inflows have been at an
all-time low due to lower-than-normal precipitation in the catchment areas triggered by climate change.
Meanwhile, the forests now account for 2 percent of the nation as compared to the 5 percent at the time of
Independence in 1947.All of these factors combined are both the causes and effects of climate change.

3. Reservoirs Storage Capacity

The existing storage dams are a few in number and they are losing their storage capacities rapidly.so it has
become a contributing factor in water scarcity. Tarbela and Mangla dams, the two major water reservoirs in
Pakistan reached dead level recently. These two big reservoirs can save water for only 30 days, and on the
other hand India can store water for 190 days while the USA can do the same for 900 days, even Egypt has
the capacity to store water for 1000 days figures that should serve as an eye opener for the politicians as well
as the citizens of this country. Muhammad Khalid Rana, a spokesman for the Indus River System Authority
(IRSA), told DW. "Pakistan receives 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 few dams. To put it in context, 30 MAF is equal to 10 trillion gallons which can feed
a population of more than 500 million people. Based on these figures, we know for a fact that natural supply
of water is not the problem. Problem is the absence of efficient conservation, storage and usage, all at the same
time.

New Delhi raised this issue with international bodies, arguing that it should be allowed to use the western
rivers because Pakistan can't use them properly," Rana said.

4. Urbanization – Over Population

Pakistan is inching towards a serious water crisis as per capita water availability is falling due to diminishing
freshwater supplies and the exponentially increasing demands of our burgeoning population. Increased
industrial use of water is a another major cause of water scarcity. The dams constructed for urban water supply
are inadequate because of the increasing population. With diminishing water resources and a growing
population, the per capita availability of water will continue to decrease. Demand for drinking water in cities
is growing rapidly as they expand sans prudent urban water management. Many parts of Karachi are already
experiencing a Cape Town-like Day Zero.

Urbanization/Industrialization Growing urban-industrial use of water is also a contributory factor. The

Khanpur Dam constructed for urban water supply to twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi is becoming
inadequate even before its supply could be started, population has increased in geometric proportions. The
rate of urbanization in the country exceeds three per cent annually which is the highest among all South Asian
nations. Owing to this rapid demographic changes, the cities of the country have a hard time in providing basic
services to the populace. The severity of the issue can be gauged by the fact that at the time of its independence
in 1947, Pakistan was a water affluent country with five thousand cubic meters per citizen of clean water.
Today, there is less than 1 thousand cubic meters of clean water per citizen, which is equivalent to that of the
water scarce country Ethiopia. This reflects the gravity of the situation and is proof of the fact that water
scarcity and its contamination is nothing short of a socio-economic bomb that is ticking to blast off soon. It is
quite sad that the country has none but itself to blame for its parochial vision and defected policies.

5. Violation of IWT

In 1960, the World Bank brokered the Indus Water Treaty (IWT) that gives Pakistan exclusive rights to use
the region's western rivers — Indus, Jhelum and Chenaub — while India has the authority over three eastern
rivers. The Pakistani government says New Delhi is not fulfilling its responsibilities under the IWT as it voices
concerns over India's construction of new dams. New Delhi is building the Kishangaga hydroelectric plant in
the north of Bandipore in India-administered Jammu and Kashmir region. In May, Islamabad approached the
World Bank complaining that India violated the IWT by building the dam on a Jehlum River basin, which it
lays claim on.

All in all, it can be concluded that water scarcity is rising at a panicking rate for Pakistan. Environmentalists
and economist have come to conclude that if the contingent plan for water crisis is not deployed, then the next
biggest war would be subjected to water itself.