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 blackwater or on the crude oil. But now the equation has been changed it turn out to be a war on water.
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.
In 1960, both of the countries settle down at the agreement or the treaty that the three rivers are in the custody of Pakistan and other three belongs to India. But with the passage of time India has been violating all the rules and regulations by building the dams and barrages on the rivers that came in share of Pakistan.
Shortage of water
Due to all this violation Pakistan is facing the shortage of water. While, all the fertile land of Pakistan is turning in to the deserts. In the growing season of crops farmer did not have the proper water to irrigate the land according to the needs as well as for livestock.
So, to fulfill this need, farmer is using the groundwater to irrigate the land and this is the main reason that water table is decreasing day by day. A day will come when no groundwater remain in Pakistan to fulfill even the domestic needs. Thus, 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.
Population increase
As the population is increasing the global warming is increasing. Due to which the temperature of earth is increasing and sweetwater on the earth becoming rare. By keeping in view all the aspects we have to use this precious commodity in proper way and step forward to store the drinking water.
This natural commodity is the debt, and we have to reduce its wastage. It is our responsibility to save something for upcoming generation. Due to the lack of storage in 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’ which is generally called 3R’s. In this regard, we have to reduce the water wastage. We can reduce its wastage in agriculture by growing those crop which need less water. Whereas, the current trend in Pakistan is rice cultivation which need more water. Same with the case of sugarcane, it need more water to grow.
Water intensive cropping need 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 groundwater. Due to which the groundwater table is decreasing day by day along with its contamination with industrial waste.
The chemicals in the waste material of factories are very dangerous for livestock, wild animals, fishes and other aquatic creatures. The factories have to reuse their waste water by filtering in treatment plant. This will reduce water wastage.
In order to prosper the economy, we have to build the dams to fulfill the needs of farmers. Dams are also necessary for agriculture, livestock and all industries running across the Pakistan, because dams produce cheapest electricity. By building dams we can overcome load shedding, as well.
Thus, 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 vested interests.
In short, dams are indispensable for the economy of Pakistan. So we can use the concept of 3R’s in reducing water wastage. We can reduce wastage through these techniques. But we have to keep it in mind that change start from home – let’s do it from now on.