ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI) and Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR) held a series of joint water resources awareness seminars and roundtables.
The water resources week was celebrated as part of the Grand National Dialogue series of brainstorming among intellectuals, policy-makers, stakeholders and students.
The Minister for water resources Syed Khursheed Shah highlighted the need for water resource conservation and development. He emphasised the need for optimum water utilisation to increase the crop yield that had a direct impact on national food security.
The minister exhorted the research teams to reach out to drought and water scarcity hit regions of the country to provide technical solutions to the practical problems.
During the media outreach seminar, attended by water resource experts and mostly students, a panel of experts comprising of Riphah International University Islamabad Director Riphah Dr Rashid Aftab; IWMI-Pakistan Country Representative Dr Mohsin Hafeez; PCRWR Islamabad Secretary Dr Hifza Rasheed; and Toqeer Ahmed, COMSATS University Centre for Climate Research and Development (CCRD) Associate Professor.
Dr Omar Khalid Butt from PTV moderated the session.
IPRI Director Brig Raashid Wali Janjua (Retd) drew the attention of the youth towards water scarcity for once a water abundant country, and the need for innovative solutions to overcome that shortage.
The panelists highlighted the need for development for more water reservoirs and a national conservation strategy predicated on attitudinal changes and effective water governance.
An integrated approach coopting all federating units, water research institutes, local communities, media, and National Water Planning and Management institutions was recommended by the panelists.
The participants regretted that efficient use of water has never been a policy-perspective, and the precious commodity has been wasted. The general psyche is that the commodity was treated as free, and was not valued.
Pakistan faces multiple problems, and few of them in the water and power sector are a bulging population that has an adverse impact on natural resources, such as water. It is also directly impacting food basket prospects of the country.
While Pakistan is an agro-based economy, the country had lagged a formal policy for water management and conservation. The first attempt was made in 2018, and to-date only meetings had been held.
The aspect of private-public partnership was also highlighted, and underscored that it is very important for a country of 220 million people.
Modern technology and water distribution mechanisms are in need of being introduced to make agriculture yield more produce, and at the same time make efficient use of available water.
Educating the farmers and introducing new mechanisms with due provision of electricity was also stressed. It was noted that Pakistan is blessed with abundance of air and water resources, yet its utility has been lagging in policy format.
The impact of climate change and the fear that by 2025 Pakistan will be a drought-affected country was also highlighted, and policy-makers called upon to frame combat strategies accordingly.
It was resolved that Pakistan has a serious issue of water management owing to inefficient policies, and lack of awareness among the masses makes it more critical.
The panel learnt that 83 to 90 per cent of water is used in agriculture, and rest of the water in domestic consumption meets with lots of wastage. If dripping and channelised water as per quantum of crop is provided, water scarcity can come to an end, it was noted.
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