Pakistan economy is heavily based on agriculture and main component of agriculture is the water. As the defense specialist Are stating that “The next war in the world is on the basis of water” In the past the war is on the basis of the black water or on the crude oil. But now the equation has been changed it turn out to be a war on water.
By Dr. Muhamamd Mohsin and Dr. Rab Nawaz Kausar
In the context of Pakistan and India the situation is same and both the countries are claiming their own rights on the sharing rivers of the two countries. By sensing the sensitivity of the situation between India and Pakistan World Bank cooperated between the two countries and act as the third party between the two nations to resolve the crisis.
So in 1960 both of the countries settle down at the agreement or the treaty that the three rivers are in the heritage of Pakistan and other three belongs to India. But with the passage of time India is violating all the rules and regulations by building the dams and barrages on the rivers that came in share of Pakistan. Due to all this violation Pakistan is facing the shortage of water and all the fertile land of Pakistan is turning in to the deserts. In the growing season of crops former did not have the proper water to irrigate his land according to the needs as well as for his livestock. So to fulfill his needs farmer is using the underground water to irrigate the land and this is the main reason that water table is decreasing day by day. A day will come when no underground water remain in Pakistan to fulfill even the domestic needs. So in the context of situation we have to build the dams in order to prevent the loss of water that goes into the Arabian Sea every year. As the population is increasing the global warming is increasing due to which the temperature of the earth is increasing and sweet water on the earth becoming rare so by keeping in view all the aspects we have to use water in proper way and step forward to store the drinking water . This water is the debt and we have to reduce the water wastage because it is our responsibility to save something for upcoming generation. Due to the lack of storage of water in the rainy season when glacier melt the water came in the form of flood and devastate our fertile lands, ripened crops and exorbitant livestock.
Possible Solutions
A term in science is used as the ‘Reduce, Reuse and Recycle ’so in this regards it would be said that we have to reduce the water wastage. We can reduce water wastage in agriculture by growing those crop which need less water as the trend is going on in Pakistan is growth of the rice which need more water to grow growth of the sugarcane it need more water to grow but it have to change as water is decreasing day by day we have to turn it to the cotton which need less water to grow. Now let’s move towards the concept of “Reuse”. We can apply this concept in the factories as they are getting a lot of water right away from water table due to which the underground water table is decreasing day by day along with contamination of water with industrial waste. The chemicals in the waste material of factories are very dangerous for livestock, other wild animals, fishes and other aquatic creatures. The factories have to reuse this water by filtering this water in treatment plant and after it they have to reuse this water. This can reduce water wastage.
So in order to prosper the economy we have to build the dams to fulfill the needs of farmers. Dams are also necessary for the agriculture, livestock and all the industries running across the Pakistan because dams are produce the cheapest electricity. By building dams we are able to overcome at the load shedding. So, now we have to think like a nation to make a prosperous Pakistan for the upcoming generations. We have to keep a side all the factors of interests of provinces. In short, it would be said that now dams and waters are indispensable for the economy of Pakistan. So we can use the concept of 3Rs in reducing water wastage. In short we can reduce water wastage by all this techniques but we have to keep it in mind that change start from home let’s do it from now on.
Authors: Dr. Muhamamd Mohsin and Dr. Rab Nawaz Kausar
Department of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Muhammad Nawaz Shareef University of Agriculture, Multan, Pakistan