KARACHI: Water is becoming scarce with each passing day; the per capita availability of fresh water in Pakistan has decreased by about 800 per cent since 1950.

The situation can be improved if the huge 30pc water loss occurring in the irrigation system — the country’s largest consumer of water — is avoided, said an expert at an Earth Day programme held at Karachi University (KU) on Saturday.

Organised by the KU’s geography department, the event focused on subjects related to the challenges posed by climate change, increasing water shortage and man-made factors contributing to environmental degradation.

Speaking about the serious threats Pakistan faces on account of shrinking water resources with growing population, Dr Badar Ghauri, head of the remote sensing and geographic information system department at the Institute of Space Technology, said that the country’s per capita availability of water had reduced from 5,300m3 in 1951 to 1,066m3 in 2010.

“If the present trend (of population growth and reduction in water resources) continued, the per capita availability of water may reduce to 915m3 in 2020, the year in which Pakistan is estimated to have 209m population,” he said, adding that 1,000m3 per capita was the threshold value as per global criteria.

According to him, efficient and judicious use of irrigation water is the only sustainable option left to the country as irrigation system consumes 69pc of all available water (domestic 8pc and industry 23pc).

“Irrigation system is overburdened and losing its efficiency due to increasing gap in actual and required operational and maintenance expenditures,” he said, adding that the government subsidised a major portion (around 70pc) of the operational and maintenance expenditures.

While showing different slides with data on the current irrigated area and losses at different levels, he also pointed to the loss of reservoir capacity due to increasing sedimentation as a factor which immediately needed government attention.

Other areas of concern, he said, included inequitable distribution of water, low efficiency in delivery and use, excess seepage and wastage in the system and insufficient cost recovery (operational and maintenance expenditures are more than water tax).

Receding glaciers

Dr Ghauri also presented data on receding glaciers in Pakistan, citing international estimates and local data which showed that Passu, Gulkin, Batura, Yazghil and Jutmau glaciers decreased considerably during 1992 and 1999 whereas during 2000-2009, this process slowed down.

“Water tables will continue to fall and the gross per capita water availability in Pakistan will decline, thus severely affecting Pakistan’s economy mainly dependent on agriculture,” he warned.

In his presentation on water resources management, engineer Mohammed Umer Karim, presently associated with the Food and Agriculture Organisation, showed how the irrigation system evolved in Sindh over the centuries and what its present features were.

“The groundwater in Sindh has been over-exploited over the years, which should be an area of serious concern. Over-pumping of groundwater leads to sea intrusion and land subsidence,” he told the audience.

He underlined the need for reforms in the irrigation sector and said: “The situation in Sindh should serve as a wake-up call. More than half of waterlogged area in Pakistan is in Sindh experiencing migration from tail-end areas due to water shortage and environmental degradation. The annual expenses of the irrigation system come to around Rs4bn whereas the annual recovery from abiana (water tax) is Rs0.6bn. The irrigation department has about 32,000 staff members.”

Prof Jamil Kazmi, head of the geography department, Dr Shahid Ali, Dr Lubna Ghazal Rao and Mohammed Zahid Khalil also spoke.

Published in Dawn, April 23rd, 2017