Dire Warning: Ishaq Dar Stresses Urgent Need for Water Storage Planning in Pakistan

Water storage planning in Pakistan has reached a critical juncture. In a recent high-level meeting in Islamabad, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Muhammad Ishaq Dar issued a powerful warning about the country’s deteriorating water security.

Chairing the session, Dar emphasized that unless immediate and collective actions are taken to boost water storage capacity, Pakistan could soon face irreversible damage to its agriculture, economy, and public health sectors.

Dar’s High-Level Meeting: A National Wake-Up Call

On Sunday, a high-level meeting led by Senator Ishaq Dar brought together officials from the Ministry of Water Resources, Planning Commission, WAPDA, and the provinces. The agenda was clear: accelerate the construction of major water reservoirs and formulate a unified national strategy.

“Water is the backbone of our economy. Without sustainable storage planning, our future generations will suffer the consequences,” Dar stated.

The meeting focused on fast-tracking long-delayed water infrastructure projects and discussed several key recommendations aimed at securing Pakistan’s water future.

The Water Crisis: A Mounting Threat to Pakistan

Pakistan is among the top ten most water-stressed countries in the world, according to the World Resources Institute. With its per capita water availability dropping below 1,000 cubic meters, the country has entered the water scarcity threshold.

Key Facts:

• Over 90% of Pakistan’s freshwater is used in agriculture.
• Only 13% of rainfall is effectively stored.
• Climate change is reducing glacier-fed water flows from the north.
• Water losses due to poor infrastructure exceed 30%.

If water storage planning in Pakistan is not urgently improved, the country could experience severe shortages that would affect food security, industry, and livelihoods across all provinces.

Strategic Water Reservoir Construction: The Way Forward

Dar emphasized the accelerated construction of dams and reservoirs as the cornerstone of Pakistan’s strategy.

Major Projects Under Focus:

• Diamer-Bhasha Dam – A multipurpose dam on the Indus River with potential to store 8.1 MAF (million acre-feet) of water.
• Mohmand Dam – Expected to contribute 0.676 MAF and generate 800 MW of electricity.
• Dasu Hydropower Project – Though primarily a power project, its impact on water regulation is significant.

Dar stressed that these projects should no longer face political or bureaucratic delays. He also proposed forming a National Water Infrastructure Task Force to monitor timelines and ensure inter-agency coordination.

Infrastructure Gaps and Resource Mobilization

The Deputy Prime Minister also highlighted the need for effective resource mobilization to fund water storage infrastructure.

Proposed Solutions:

• Leverage international climate finance through institutions like the Green Climate Fund (GCF).
• Encourage public-private partnerships (PPP) in water infrastructure development.
• Expand federal budget allocations toward the Ministry of Water Resources.

Experts from the Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR) also recommended incentivizing water-efficient technologies in agriculture, such as drip irrigation, to reduce demand.

International Lessons and Regional Cooperation

Dar also called for studying best practices from countries like Israel and Australia, which have successfully tackled water shortages through efficient water governance, desalination technologies, and water recycling.

Furthermore, Dar emphasized the need for improved regional cooperation on transboundary water management, particularly with India under the Indus Waters Treaty, and with China on upstream flow monitoring.

“Pakistan must take a leadership role in promoting water diplomacy in South Asia,” he noted.

Call to Action: From Planning to Execution

To make water storage planning in Pakistan effective, Dar called for turning strategies into tangible outcomes through:

1. Unified National Water Policy Implementation
2. Real-time Monitoring of Reservoir Projects
3. Decentralized Water Management at Provincial Levels
4. Awareness Campaigns on Water Conservation
5. Use of Satellite and AI Tools for water resource tracking

Dar also reiterated that all stakeholders—including the provinces, private sector, farmers, and civil society—must work together to address the crisis.

Conclusion

The meeting chaired by Ishaq Dar signals a decisive shift in how Pakistan views and plans for its water future. Without strategic and timely water storage planning in Pakistan, the consequences will be catastrophic.

But with political will, institutional coordination, and proactive investment, the crisis can still be averted. The time to act is now—before the next drought, before the next flood, before it’s too late.

External Resources

• World Resources Institute – Water Stress Rankings
• Green Climate Fund – Pakistan
• WAPDA Official Website

Internal Links

• Pakistan’s Water Crisis Deepens Amid Climate Change
• Understanding the Indus Waters Treaty
• Gilgit-Baltistan Youth Tackle Climate Adaptation