Panelists concerned over growing water scarcity

QUETTA, During the two-day Quetta Literary Festival (QLF) at BUITEMS, a session was held on the water crisis of Balochistan in which the panelists from Balochistan Think Tank Network (BTTN) sensitized the audience on the severity of the matter.

The session was moderated by Maria Malik while Aadersh Hamza Malghani, Rafi Khan and Abdul Rehman participated as speakers. Maria opened the session by highlighting the significance of water for the human life stating that it was impossible for a human being to survive without water after 3 or 4 days.

“Pakistan is now listed at the 14th number in the list of 17 most water stressed countries. More than 80 percent of Pakistanis face some kind of water scarcity on daily basis whereas almost two-third of our water sources are being wasted because of poor management and lack of infrastructure”, she added.

During the session, various aspects of this pressing issue were highlighted by the speakers who tried to sensitize the young generation about the looming threat of water scarcity in Pakistan and particularly in Balochistan.

Brig (retd) Agha Ahmad Gul graced the session as the chief guest. The session was attended by the audience in great numbers, including members from civil society, students and faculty of different universities. Dr. Zafar Khan, Executive Director BTTN also attended the event.

Speakers raised concerns over climatic changes, ever increasing population and geographic constraints as few of the main reasons of water scarcity in Balochistan. Very little rainfall, lack of water storage facilities and unhygienic groundwater made it worse for the people of the province to carry out their routine matters. BTTN speakers also stressed on adopting a more proactive approach to resolve the water crisis in the province.

Aadersh Hamza Malghani, Associate Director at BTTN, said that the conservation of water had become a necessity to secure the future generation of the country.

He said that Gwadar was facing acute water scarcity at the moment, where poor management and lack of infrastructure were the Primary reasons of water crisis.

He argued “Desalination is being carried out by many coastal cities around the world, but Gwadar has not tapped that resource to its full potential because of the poor infrastructure and management.” He also emphasized on creating awareness among the masses to highlight the importance of water and to promote the use of recycled water which as a sustainable water resource.

Rafi Khan, Research Officer at BTTN, talked about the water crisis in Quetta city. He said “85 % of the 12.3 million population of Balochistan do not have access to fresh and clean drinking water. Water demand of Quetta is 61million gallon per day (mgd) whereas only 24.5mgd is being provided. Moreover, population growth, influx of Afghan refugees and urbanization has exacerbated the demand further.” Amongst other things, he suggested “Lifting water coming from the Indus River via the tail of Kacchi Canal is one of the primary solutions to meet the water demand of the city.” He also stressed “The curriculum at every level should incorporate the significance of water conservation.” Abdul Rehman, Research Officer at BTTN, highlighted the issue of water scarcity in the upland Balochistan that includes Pishin Lora basin, Nari basin and Zhob basin. He said “The groundwater is depleting at an alarming rate in the upland Balochistan. The traditional sources of water like Karez and springs have dried up due to less rainfall and an increased number of tube wells in the region.” He recommended, “Both the people and government need to take the issue of water scarcity seriously and commit towards the preservation of every drop of water in Balochistan”, adding, “the traditional sources of water such as Karezes and springs should be restored.” The session was followed by a question-and-answer session and ended with the distribution of souvenirs among the panelists.