Pakistan is a land gifted with lavish resources of water.
It is a land where crystalline water rolls down the
mighty Himalayas and Karakorum peaks to the fertile plains and break into intricate web of canal system
that irrigates over 16 million hectors of land, out of 34 million hectors of cultivable land available. The
other sources of water available in Pakistan are rainfall, surface water available in rivers and
underground water.
In surface water we have three drainage basins:
The Indus basin river
Closed basin kharan desert
Makran coastal basin.
The Indus basin river :
The Indus river basin is one of the most important water systems in Asia. It originates near the Kailash
range in Tibet .The river flows to the west and eventually falls into Arabian Sea. The total area of the
Indus basin is about 365,000 square miles. The river Indus has tributaries at both Western and Eastern
sides. Its eastern tributaries are the Ravi,the Beas,the Chenab,the Sutlej and the Jhelum. These five rivers
meet at Panjna It’s western tributaries are the river swat ,the Kabul,the kurram, the tochi,the gomal and
the zhob.these rivers joins Indus in Khyber pakhtunkhwa. The Indus River system is considered as the
lifeblood of Pakistan. Its sources of water are snowing,glacier melting,and rainfall. From Indus river
system 141.67 million square feet of water is being received. In 1960, Pakistan signed with India a water
treaty called ,” Indus water treaty “ which brought major changes in the sources of water for Pakistan.
This treaty gave the right of three Eastern rivers, Beas, satluj and Ravi to India whereas the water of
Indus Jhelumand Chenab is to be used by Pakistan.
Closed basin kharan desert :
It consist of areas of mountain basins of Quetta and basins of tributaries draining into kharan desert. Its
main rivers are pishin Lara, Baddo Rakhshan, mashkhel and many other streams. It covers an area of
120,100 sq.km.Its main sources of water are rainfall and snow. Here we are getting approximately 4.5
million acre feet of water.
Makran coastal basin:
The Makran coastal basin consist of streams of Malir,Hub,Porali,Kid,Hingol,Nai,Mashhai,Dasht,Nihing
and Kech. It covers an area of 122400 sq. Km and it main source of water is rainfall. From this basin we
get 0.78 million acre feet of water.
The construction of dams and barrages by India over the river Chenab and the river Jhelum created the
problem of water shortage for Pakistan. This shortage is becoming more and more severe with passage
of time. According to the UNO report, Pakistan ranks at the 7th position in the list of counties facing water
crisis. Presently, Pakistan has surface water of 153 million acre feet and underground water resources of
only 24 million acre feet . Pakistan may face water shortage by 2024 AD
The population of Pakistan is increasing at a rate of 3.2%. Presently, we have to feed more than 200
million people and if the rate of increase in population remains the same, then it will we almost double
by the year 2025, leading to add pressure on the underground water resources. Factors such as global
warming and climate change will further aggravate the problem of water scarcity. According to a
research study on water resources of Pakistan, water of economic values of $70 million is being thrown
into sea every year due to non-construction of water reservoirs. Being water starved country,which has
the foreign reserve of only $20 billion,we cannot afford throwing water of the economic values of $70
billion every year into sea
Study of PCRWR revealed that rapid depletion of ground water may soon worsen the water crisis in
Pakistan’s major cities , causing a drought -like situation. Such crisis needs to be taken on war footings;
otherwise, large section of Pakistan’s population, especially those living in big cities , will be facing severe
shortage of water .
Due to excessive pumping of underground water, the quality of water is being contaminated rapidly with
heavy metals like copper , nickel and cobalt etc, which can pose some serious health hazards and can
cause the spread of lethal disease in the population, especially in the big cities.
The problem of water shortage in Pakistan has gained momentum as our water storage capacity is only
of the 30 days, and Pakistan has the 4th highest rate of water use in the world.
To overcome this horrible water scarcity we should take these remedial measures immediately:
Strict implemention of national water policy 208
Formulation of national action plan for judicious use of available water.
Construction of water reservoirs .
Control on over pumping of underground water and its wastage.
Increase the use of water efficient crops
Switch over from conventional agriculture to conservative agriculture.
Adopting water efficient method of irrigation like sprinkler and drip irrigation.
The problems faced by the water sector in the country are many, acute and serious. Therefore, building
of more reservoirs and effective management strategy are the need of hour. The implemention of these
recommendations will enable the country to overcome the challenges, and achieve the objectives of
sustainable development and management of water resources. It is said that the wars of twenty-first
century will be fought for water. We should therefore save now to prevent war .
