Water management needed to prevent annual loss worth Rs 25 bln

APP – Pakistan needs an efficient water management policy complimented by a political will for its implementation to prevent water wastage and consequent loss worth Rs. 25 billion to the national exchequer.

An active member of FPCCI and activist committed to the cause of environment as well as conservation of natural resources, Ahmad Jawad talking to APP Thursday said lack of water reservoirs has caused over a trillion dollars' loss to the country's economy during past 30 years.

The situation manifests itself in the form of varied deficiencies and repeated episodes of water shortage for agrarian, industrial as well as domestic purposes, he said.

Reiterating that mismanagement of water and inadequate storage are fast emerging as the biggest threat for the country's agriculture sector, Jawad said construction of Diamer Bhasha Dam is mandatory to maintain the necessary reserves of the essential commodity.

In reply to a question, he said country was annually faced with an easily avoidable loss of Rs 25 billion due to lack of water storage facilities, "Pakistan has to go for viable projects after every ten years in order to conserve massive flow of water consequent to fast melting glaciers," he said.

Jawad regretted that Pakistanis as a nation are lenient when it comes to the value of water management - whether for drinking, farming, controlling floods, improving environment or generating cheap power.

"Despite being potentially the richest nation in the subcontinent, the country, since independence, had been unable to protect water in its river channels," he said.

This led the neighbors to overstep their bounds, sparking disputes in an already heated arena, he said.

"Ours is a strange agrarian country that has no interest in protecting the backbone of its economy and has not been able to build mega dams during last 41 years," said the FPCCI Official.

He said Pakistan was generating just half a dollar from one cubic meter of water as compared to the world's average of $8.

"In some cases, such as that of Japan, the number inflates to an incredible $30," said Ahmad Jawad.

Contrasting Pakistan's nonchalant attitude with that of India, he said, Indian nationalists, since independence, have realized the importance of water for growth.

Mentioning that India had established "International Commission for Irrigation and Drainage" in 1950 under their "India First" agenda, he said that since then it has positioned itself at a level of great influence with multilateral institutes and government agencies worldwide.

Ahmad Jawad suggested that three more mega dams including Bhasha dam, Kalabagh dam and a general storage dam somewhere up north can help all parts of the country to get rid of the problems faced due to water shortage.

He said the country that currently has no more than 61 dams needed no less than 200 small and medium sized dams.