At the IWMI Pakistan field office in Okara, a stakeholders’ workshop on future water availability for Okara district was held.
Stakeholders at a workshop on future water availability referred to the Punjab Water Act 2019 as a critical piece of legislation for regulating water use and providing enabling policy support for its long-term sustainability across the Punjab province.
At the International Water Management Institute’s (IWMI) Pakistan field office in Okara, a stakeholders’ workshop on future water availability for Okara district was held.
There is now a Punjab Water Commission and a Punjab Water Services Regulatory Authority. However, district-level knowledge and understanding of the Punjab Water Act 2019 are limited. The workshop was held as part of the Water Resource Accountability Program in Pakistan (WRAP).
Dr. Mohsin Hafeez, IWMI Country Representative for Pakistan and Project Leader, provided an overview of the programme and how it will benefit District Okara. “Okara is the pilot district where various water governance interventions, such as groundwater monitoring, water accounting, a water allocation system, and irrigation demand management, will be introduced,” he says.
The government has taken strong ownership of the proposed interventions, which will hopefully be replicated in other districts of Punjab once successfully piloted.
Dr. Muhammad Javed, Director, Social and Environment Management, Strategic Planning and Reform Unit (SPRU), Punjab Irrigation Department (PID), presented on water-related challenges in Punjab as well as the key features of the Punjab Water Act 2019.
Kanwal Waqar, IWMI Pakistan Researcher and Gender and Youth Specialist, informed us in her presentation that around 70 percent of women are involved in the agriculture sector, but their contribution is not recognized. She advocated for policies, programs, and activities that are gender inclusive and equitable.
Officials from the district government, PID, OFWM, the Public Health Engineering Department, the Tehsil Municipal Administration, urban households, farmers, academia, and the media participated in the workshop.
The International Water Management Institute (IWMI) is a non-profit research organization that focuses on improving water management in developing countries.