ISLAMABAD: The National Commission on Human Rights (NCHR) has concluded after consultations with stakeholders that the federal capital is not in the midst of a water shortage.

Instead, it attributed average citizens’ need for access to water to a lack of coordination, bad planning and the absence of a water policy and suggested that the problem could be addressed by addressing issues related to governance.

The NCHR took notice of the water crisis in the capital in the first week of July, and decided to call all the stakeholders for their input.

Water crisis attributed to lack of coordination, bad planning, absence of water policy

Representatives from the Capital Development Authority (CDA), Water and Sanitation Authority, Islamabad Capital Territory administration and experts from the Sustainable Development Policy Institute, NGOs and several other organisations, participated in the consultation.

NCHR Chairman retired Justice Ali Nawaz Chowhan said water is a basic human right and the commission would continue its efforts to ensure every resident of the federal capital is provided clean drinking water.

Commission member Chaudhry Mohammad Shafique told Dawn there are two water sources in the federal capital: surface water and underground water.

“Usually, cities which have 150 to 200 millimetres rain per year do not face water shortage. Islamabad is a city which received, on average, 1,000mm rain every year, so there should not be any shortage of water. Unfortunately, a major chunk of water is water in the federal capital,” he said.

“Pipelines are almost 60 years old, and they are not only leaking but the water is being contaminated by sewerage that has mixed with clean water. Departments that deal with water do not coordinate with each other,” he added.

“Only the CDA has three different departments, which have been dealing with bulk water, water supply and tankers. Even those departments do not bother to coordinate with each other.

“There is also a lack of interdepartmental coordination. The ICT administration only deals with agriculture water, so it has no concern with drinking water,” he said.

Mr Shafique said the discussion found that although the city has been consuming underground water, it has not made any arrangements to recharge underground water, and there is no strategy for this purpose.

“There are rules for rainwater harvesting, but they are not being implemented. The majority of rainwater goes to the Nullah Leh and is wasted. On the other hand, drinking water is being used to wash clothes, for gardening, at service stations and to clean houses. In development countries, drinking water cannot be used for such thing,”

“Unfortunately, successive government have never paid attention to water wastage. During the discussion, it was informed that there is a project to bring water from the Indus River through a pipeline, which can be implemented as the Council of Common Interest has approved it,” he said.

“But the majority of stakeholders were of the view that if the same amount that would be spent on the pipeline is spent on the city’s water management, the problem will be addressed without a single additional drop of water.”

Mr Shafique said that in Singapore, water is used twice before flowing into the ocean, and it was suggested at the discussion that a similar approach be adopted for Islamabad.

Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR) Director General Dr Ashfaq Ahmed also suggested focusing on water management to address water scarcity.

During the meeting, it was decided that more consultations would be held to devise a water policy for the city.

Water scarcity has become a major issue across the city, and particularly in the G and I sectors, leading former MNA from Islamabad and Jamaat-i-Islami leader Mian Mohammad Aslam to display banners in the city demanding accessible water.

Islamabad residents have also protested against the CDA because of the lack of water. Although there is a ban on boring – to extract underground water – a number of people depend on boring due to a lack of options. The CDA mostly ignores complaints regarding boring because it is also aware there is an ongoing water crisis.

Published in Dawn, July 20th, 2017