Pak fast moving from being a water-stressed country to water-scarce one: UNDP

Multan, June 20 (ANI): United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Regional Project Director, Shafqat Niaz Kang, has said, that Pakistan is facing a severe water shortage, and is fast moving from being a water-stressed country to a water-scarce country, mainly due to its high population growth.

Kang expressed his views at a one-day training workshop of the local government staff organised by the UNDP, Pakistan Council of Research of Water Resources (PCRWR) and Community Initiatives for Development and Environment (CIDE), to raise awareness about water scarcity and conservation practices among the public, the Dawn reports.

Officials from Multan, Muzaffargarh, Vehari, Khanewal and Lodhran districts attended the workshop.

Kang said the availability of water was being endangered by a rash of new threats, including climate change and increase in population.

He further said that per capita availability of water in Pakistan had gone down sharply, while in the agriculture sector water availability decreased by 29 per cent due to over irrigation, untimely irrigation and use of conventional technologies in the agriculture.

Kang added that in the domestic sector, water issues included the use of uncontrolled water quantities, generation of large quantities of sewage in domestic and commercial activities, water losses associated with water conveyance, storage and distribution, besides the non-availability of sewage treatment facilities and lack of awareness and commitment for managing water crisis masses.

CIDE Assistant Executive Director Muhammad Shoaib said that in the domestic sector water issues could be solved by using of controlled water quantities in domestic activities, while in the agriculture sector, there was a need to introduce bed and furrow irrigation, pressurised irrigation, saline water irrigation, rain water harvesting, soil conservation and high efficiency techniques. (ANI)