Water is a recurrent theme in dispatches. There is shortage that threatens to turn dangerous, destructive. Water theft allegations are made at inter-provincial, inter-district and inter-field level.
The issue has caused distrust among segments of population and brought grief to people, farmers in particular. Pakistan has been looking for a solution but has succeeded only in igniting controversy instead of harnessing resources.
There can be no two views about the need to increase water resources by building reservoirs. That proposition has unfortunately become the subject of emotional disagreements that have little link with facts. But there are other means for improving water availability and doing so without raising dust or pushing people on a confrontationist course. A lot of water lost in the system can be saved for providing urgently needed relief to the farming sector.
The most important thing is reducing losses in the system. That should be done on an urgent basis and can be undertaken without heavy financing. Efforts in Punjab in this direction by on-farm water management wing of the provincial department of agriculture have demonstrated the farmer’s readiness to underwrite part of the expense. They realize that the measure is in their interest and share the burden.
Drought conditions prevailing across the country for three years have compounded the misery of the masses. Productivity of the agriculture sector has not been impaired but that has been so mainly because farmers have relied heavily on ground water.
However, the manner of resolving one problem has caused another as water level has gone frighteningly low at some points and quality of water has deteriorated at other places. Saltish water pumped out by tube wells is impairing the quality of land. It has become a vicious circle.
Water is certainly scarce and getting scarcer by the day. Weather has not been very kind. The farming sector in some parts of the country has no option but to draw on below surface water. Areas where this is not possible have to live with their resources, or the lack of them. Drinking water was not available in many parts of the country in the past; the spectacle of man and animal drinking from the same dirty pond of rainwater has been a common experience for people of these regions.
Over the years, the situation has worsened.
In the last few years, drought conditions have extended the reign of misery to other parts of the country too. The water situation is undeniably acute. But it is not irredeemable. Water resources can be improved substantially; they can be enhanced to the extent that immediate pressure is warded off.
But it seems that easy and relatively economical ways are not viewed as the best and most affective options. We must not propose and pursue grandiose projects and lose energy and resources even if they bring people into clash with each other.
An idea of how much water is squandered due to lack of correct focus on the issue is available in official statistics. The annual flow in the river system is 142 maf. As a result of short-sighted approach, 38 million maf flows to the Arabian Sea. This is most unfortunate because this water can be preserved and harnessed for the benefit of all those who continue crying hoarse about shortage of water. Water diverted to the canal system is consequently 104 MAF. The 38 maf that flows into the sea comes up to 27 percent of the available water.
Not all of the 104 maf in the canal system is utilized productively. According to agreed assessment of experts, the losses in the canal system take away 25 per cent or 26 maf of the water diverted to canals, leaving the quantity of water available at watercourse inlet at 78 maf.
Pakistan has about 135,000 water courses. A majority of them belong to the age of darkness. But that age was also of plenty because the population was limited, water was abundant and food needs were not pressing. Things have changed over time. The state of watercourses has, by and large, remained the same, as it was half a century or even a century back. A lot of water is lost through seepage. The quantity worked out for water wastage at this stage is 20 maf or 25 per cent of the water available at watercourse level.
Farmers in many parts of the country, particularly in Punjab, pump out water to make for the deficiency of resources. They add 44 maf from a total of about 550,000 tube wells across the country, a majority of them, about 80 per cent in Punjab. But the process of water losses also continues. Another 15 MAF, coming to 15 per cent of the total water left at this point, is wasted in field ditches. Water available at farm gate is thus 87 MAF. Another 22 maf or 25 per cent water is lost in field irrigation application. The irrigation water available for crop consumptive use is consequently just 65 maf.
Admittedly, not all the water is wholly lost; a percentage of this water helps recharge aquifer. But the fact remains that of the 142 maf annual flow in the river system plus 44 MAF drawn from underground, adding up to 186 maf, only 65 maf serves the agriculture sector. A reasonable percentage of this water can be saved.
Eleven agencies and departments at federal and provincial level are involved in the water sector. They are either moving in diverse directions or concentrating on non-productive and controversial solution. There can be no denying the need for building reservoirs.
But it has been decided- rightly, that they can be undertaken only after consensus among users. That is nowhere in view. But should we continue ignoring the issue altogether till consensus is obtained or do what is very much within the reach of resources?
