KARACHI, April 23: Sindh Minister for Irrigation Sardar Nadir Akmal Khan Leghari has said that one of the most important economic and environmental issues of Pakistan, water conservation and management, is being addressed through a National Water Policy (NWP) being formulated keeping in view input from all the four provinces.

He was speaking at a seminar on Better management of our water resources for our children and our future, organized by the Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF) on Thursday in connection with the Earth Day, observed on Friday.

Regarding Kotri downstream, the minister said that a high-powered committee, with the help of the World Bank, was conducting a professional study to solve the issue. It would submit its report very soon, he added.

The committee would also assess the losses caused to Badin district by the Left Bank Outfall Drain (LBOD) project, as well as the damage inflicted on the environment and inhabitants of the district by sea intrusion.

He said that in order to root out corruption in the irrigation department, assistance of the Transparency International had been sought and an MoU had already been signed with it.

Irrigation and agriculture departments need to work in close collaboration with each other and we have established an understanding between the two departments. The irrigation department is working on a participatory management system where farmers will be empowered. We have to educate our farmers about crops. We are also working on how to contain loss/waste of water.

Sardar Leghari told the seminar that the World Bank had earmarked $117 million for water sector improvement programme. “Sindh needs more attention as there are only 12,000 tubewells in the province as compared to 1.2 million in Punjab. We need to employ modern technology for an effective use of all available resources and stress more on research and development in agriculture and water sectors,” he stressed.

An international water conference is scheduled to be held in December this year in Karachi, according to the minister.

Speaking on the occasion, Director of the Coastal Ecosystems and Water Resources, IUCN, Dr Tahir Qureshi said the all water resources in this and similar other water-deficient countries needed conservation and proper management to ensure a better future.

“We have the Indus River System, the largest irrigation system in the world, but the same is rapidly depleting due to careless utilization and waste of our water resources amid growing population pressure.

“The importance of this system could be gauged from the fact that the canals and watercourses attached to the Indus river system are stretched over one-million mile area. However, since the mega projects like the World Bank-funded National Drainage Programme, as well as LBOD and RBOD, divert drain water to the sea, the environment and marine resources of the country are at a serious risk of destruction.”

Elaborating, he pointed out that effluents in the drain water made their way into the Arabian Sea devastating the marine resources, including fish, mangrove forests, etc.

President of the National Forum for Environment and Health (NFEH) Naeem Qureshi said that no practical step had been taken so far under the national environmental pollution policy announced in December last year.

“The Pakistan Environment Council, headed by the prime minister, has also been almost non-functional. Its last meeting was held in February 2001,” he pointed out, adding: “The government should give water a priority in its agenda and ensure safe drinking water for all.”

President of the Society for Protection of Environment (SCOPE) Tanvir Arif stressed on making water safe for human consumption and irrigation purpose.

In this regard, he made mention of the bio-sand filter technology, and said it might prove the most affordable and easily accessible for population.—PPI