“Pakistan is one of the top ten climate-vulnerable countries. Water scarcity is one of the consequences of climate change,” said Dr. Muhammad Ashraf.
“Pakistan is one of the top ten climate-vulnerable countries. Water scarcity is one of the consequences of climate change. China-Pakistan water cooperation can help Pakistan cope with climate change and its resulting disasters by managing water sources through the application of technical means,” said Dr. Muhammad Ashraf, Chairman of the Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR), according to a report published on Sunday by Gwadar Pro.
The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reported last month that more than 10 million people, including children, still lack access to safe drinking water following the catastrophic flood in 2022. Flooding, the worst in 30 years, is threatening even the soil and vast groundwater reserves. Pakistan has a chronic water shortage, which has been exacerbated by the floods.
The China-Pakistan Youth Exchange Community has been providing food, temporary shelters, and drinking water stations in the worst-affected areas since the floods began.
The community has built 260 tent villages in the flood-ravaged Dadu district, where many families have been displaced, and is building a purified water station that will provide clean water to nearly 10,000 people across eight villages.
Ma Bin, the community’s leader, stated that improving water management and infrastructure costs a lot of money and called for more help from Chinese and international organisations.
PCRWR signed a strategic cooperation agreement with China Water Resources Beifang Investigation, Design, and Research Co. Ltd. (BIDR) last year to help Pakistan develop in the areas of water management and smart irrigation.
Dr. Ashraf told Gwadar Pro that fruitful exchanges and cooperation in the water sector had taken place and that the next step was to demonstrate and disseminate these technologies to a broader range of stakeholders in Pakistan, including universities, farming families, and communities.
The scientific and environmentally friendly water management measures implemented in China in recent years have yielded significant results. Chinese companies are constantly looking into new methods of efficient water recycling and smart agriculture.
According to Dr. Ashraf, PCRWR is attempting to introduce the concept of agricultural services in Pakistan, expand the reach of these services, and gradually realise the transfer of technology from China to Pakistan.
Commenting on the outcomes of CPEC water cooperation, Dr. Muhammad Ashraf stated that these hydropower projects helped regulate water within the Pakistani system, particularly by storing water during periods of high flow and using it in subsequent years and over a long period of time.
In the long run, this will help Pakistan resolve its water scarcity crisis, which is expected to reach critical proportions by 2025. “China has established sound mechanisms for water resource cooperation with its neighbours, including Pakistan,” Dr. Ashraf continued.
“Pakistan can learn from China’s water diplomacy by cooperating with neighbouring countries to manage cross-border water resources.”
Dr. Manzoor H. Soomro, an eminent scientist and academician, praised Chinese President Xi Jinping’s Global Civilization Initiative, claiming that Chinese modernization provided Chinese solutions to human development, including water resource management.
He emphasised that after the projects, the maintenance of infrastructure such as roads, dams, and hydropower stations, staff training, capacity building of local people, and engaging youth in this process are more important for successful long-term development.