Experts warn Pakistan may face severe water shortage

Experts warned that Pakistan may face a serious water crisis if measures are not taken in time. Geographic News Reported on Sunday.

According to the report, the country’s water shortage is a wake-up call due to low rainfall causing the river to dry up, and India continues to block water from flowing to Pakistan, making the situation worse than ever.

Sources told the media that the country’s per capita water consumption is 1.1 billion cubic meters per year-which is a very low level-and in Punjab, people must reach a depth of 600 feet to extract groundwater. In the past, people only needed to enter a depth of 50 feet.

The report further stated that each year, Kharif and Rabi crops face water shortages of up to 45%, while the groundwater levels in cities large and small in Punjab Province, including Lahore, have begun to decline.

Water resources experts warn that Pakistan will face a famine-like situation if it does not build new reservoirs and stop wasting water.

According to water resources experts, due to population growth, water loss and climate change, the authorities must take preventive measures immediately, otherwise, famine will be inevitable.

The chairman of the Pakistan Engineering Conference, Amjad Said, said that the water problem may become more serious in the next few days.

He said that in addition to the water disputes with India, the provinces of Pakistan are also fighting each other on the issue of water allocation.

“About 7 million acre-feet of fresh water is lost to the ocean every year. If this is not the incompetence of the authorities, then I don’t know what it is,” Said said.

In clarifying the matter, Zahid Aziz, managing director of the Lahore Water and Sanitation Authority (Wasa), said that in the past 15 to 20 years, the groundwater level in Lahore City has fallen by one meter every year. .

He said: “This is due to lack of rainfall, the condition of the River Ravi and the citizens wasting water resources.”

However, he said that the government’s measures have raised the groundwater level by two meters, which is sufficient for major cities including Lahore for many years to come.

He said that at present, most cities in Faisalabad, Multan, Rawalpindi and South Punjab are facing the problem of fresh water shortage, but projects are being established to deal with it.