ISLAMABAD, March 21: Pollution, over consumption and poor water management are responsible for depletion and contamination of available water resources, the director-general of Pakistan Meteorological Department, Dr Qamaruz Zaman Chaudhry, said.

Speaking on the eve of World Water Day, Dr Chaudhry said fresh water was essential for a healthy ecosystem, sustainable development and human survival. He said the goal for 2003 was to encourage greater global understanding of the need for more responsible water use and conservation.

He said agriculture was among the most egregious offenders, commanding the lion’s share of freshwater resources.

Though the earth was called ‘blue planet’, 97.5 per cent of its salt water was found mainly in oceans and only 2.5 per cent was fresh water.

In addition, 2.24 per cent of the world’s water was found in polar ice caps (Antarctica, Greenland etc), glaciers and deep groundwater. He said only 0.26 per cent of the world’s water was accessible for use. It has been estimated that water consumption by different users would increase from 1,250 km3/year in 1960 to about twice this amount in 2010 and further more to about 2,800 km3/year in 2025.

The result would be water crisis, he added.

Meanwhile, IUCN, in a statement, said 1.7 billion people lived in areas where water was so scarce that their capacity to produce food and develop was undermined.

In addition, at least 1.1 billion people in the world did not have access to safe drinking water and three million died each year, many of them children, from illness caused by contaminated water.

It said Pakistan, a country with 140 million people and still growing by four million per year, was also overpumping its aquifers.