ISLAMABAD, Dec 17: As apprehensions about the ‘acute water shortage’ by year 2012 are growing, the government may ban shortly the ground-water drilling in some areas, remove subsidies on tubewells and seek foreign investment in water projects related to flood control, irrigation and drinking water on a crash basis.
A senior official at the federal flood commission (FFC) told Dawn that the new administration has been advised to “act now on emergency basis or the future generations would have nothing to do except fighting for water”.
Per capita surface water availability was 5,650 cubic meters in 1951, which reduced to 1,400 cubic meters in 2000. The minimum water requirement to avoid being a “water short country” is 1,000 cubic meters. In the year 2012, Pakistan would reach the stage of “acute water shortage”, said the official.
Keeping in mind the gravity of the situation, the FFC in collaboration with ministries of science, food and agriculture and planning commission have proposed that a 10-year investment plan be presented to the donors and foreign investors immediately for assistance and investment.
The official said that the Jamali administration has been advised to immediately put in place a legal framework to control over-extraction of ground-water and withdraw prevailing subsidies on tubewells in view of the fast deteriorating ground-water level in the country.
“Uncontrolled abstraction of ground-water has played havoc in terms of quantity and quality in the arid areas of Balochistan and parts of Punjab and Sindh”, the official quoted a strategy paper that has been submitted to the prime minister.
The planning commission projections for the year 2004 regarding water potential and demand at farmgate suggested a shortfall of 14.9 million acre feet (maf). The estimates indicate that total availability for the year 2004 would be around 134.9maf against actual requirement of 149.8maf.
The aquifer in Pakistan has been built due to direct recharge from natural precipitation, river flow and the continued seepage from the conveyance system of canals, distributaries and water courses and application losses in the irrigated lands during the last 90 years.
This aquifer with a potential of about 50maf is being exploited to an extent of about 40maf by over 562,000 private tubewells and about 16,000 public tubewells. All these tubewells are provided with more than 50 per cent subsidy in electricity.
Particularly in Balochistan, ground-water extracted through dug-wells, tubewells, springs and Karezes is the main dependable source of water for irrigation of orchards and other cash crops.
In two basins of Pishin-Lora and Nari in Balochistan and Lahore area in Punjab the ground-water is being over exploited beyond development potentials creating mining conditions and causing a huge overdraft of ground-water that is threatening drying up of the aquifers in the long term.
The report suggested that in plain areas where grain and crops like cotton, wheat and maize are grown, bed and furrow irrigation methods should be made mandatory for adoption by farmers to increase the application efficiency of water.
The 10-year investment plan, already prepared with the technical and financial assistance of the Asian Development Bank, should be supported by forthcoming five-year plan and annual budgetary allocations both at the federal and provincial levels, the official said.
“The investment required over the 10-year period would run into billions of dollars and would cover everything that has any link with water”, said the official involved in the preparation of the investment plan.
The investment plan would dovetail into a 25-year National Water Policy that sets out long term policy objectives of the country to conserve, preserve and streamline the water utilization through better management.
Explaining the certain important features of the water sector investment plan, an expert at the Federal Flood Commission said that it would not be something like an incentive package to lure the investor community. Rather, he said, profiles of priority projects and data about water resources and their potential utilization and output would be detailed so that investors and donors are provided with all the relevant material promptly.
The paper also suggested some awareness measures that include precision land levelling to increase efficiencies in the plain areas and introduction of laser-guided land levelling with local cost effective technology.
Similarly, farmers in upland areas with undulating topography be encouraged to use high efficiency irrigation systems like trickle, bubbler and sprinkler to conserve water. For this demonstration plots on cost sharing basis would be established in the country.
It proposed that an extensive social awareness campaign should be launched using mass media means and village-to-village campaign of extension services. Furthermore, effective extension service mechanism must be developed to transfer new and efficient irrigation methods, technologies and practices to farmer.
Tax holiday has also been proposed to encourage local industries to manufacture components of the system besides bank loans to develop high efficiency irrigation systems.
Water User Organizations in irrigated areas would be motivated to solve the problems related to water use because of their presence at grass root level.
Dissemination of information to farmers regarding actual crop water requirements of various crops in major agro-climatic zones would be undertaken on priority basis to avoid over and under irrigation. This will help in controlling wastage of water and overcoming problems like water logging and salinity.