Pakistan National Water Policy To Improve The Water Situation In The Country
Pakistan National Water Policy To Improve The Water Situation In The Country: With the burgeoned population of Pakistan, an uninterrupted supply of water has become the need of the hour. Pakistan already short on water and affected by climate change is in an urgent necessity to better prepare for the future water situation.
For our water needs, we are dependent on India abiding by the Indus Water treaty (IWT) with the Indian government threats to cancel the treaty any moment.
Pakistan has drafted their first national water policy. As per policy released by the government it
- includes plans to double Pakistan’s water storage capabilities,
- using water more efficiently in the agricultural sector through a pricing system to ensure efficient use of the irrigation system where water use is directed on the basis of need rather than the current distribution on the basis of land
- Reducing water loss in transport and conveyance and modernizing the country’s irrigation system.
- A National Water Council will be established to oversee the implementation of this policy.
While ensuring water is justifiably distributed among the provinces following things Council of Common Interest (CCI) will be considering the following factors to implement an effective the national water policy.
- As weather-related phenomena like floods and droughts become more frequent and extreme, we need to be better equipped to deal with these crisis.
- Regulation to guard against further deforestation and soil erosion will have to be part of any sensible environmental policy.
- Countering India efforts of reducing water off rivers that are meant to supply water to us, we will need to either renegotiate the Indus Waters Treaty(IWT) or convince international arbiters to stop the Indian construction of dams.
The success of the national water policy depends on whether we can turn goal into reality, with the federal and provincial government working to agree on its domestic use the looming water crisis could be minimized.