ISLAMABAD - “In Pakistan water shortage is deepening, and it is feared there will be absolute water scarcity in 2025,” says a report by the Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR).
According to local media reports, The PCRWR has warned that Pakistan may run dry by 2025, if immediate actions are not taken by the authorities. The report is yet to be released, but parts of it have been made available to the media.
The report said that Pakistan had hit the ‘water stress line’ in 1990 and then crossed the ‘water scarcity line’ in 2005.
It further says that further research is required to find possible solutions to the water crisis. “Unfortunately, the PCRWR has no funds to ensure sustainable research," an official of the Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST) told NNI.
“PCRWR, which was established in 1964, and is under the control of MoST, has asked the government to generate Rs50 million funds for research and development activities,” informed the official. He added as per Deutsche Welle, water scarcity was also triggering conflicts in the country.
"The government is ignoring the interests of our province," Ayaz Lateef Palejo, a nationalist leader from Sindh said, and added, "There is massive corruption in the water sector, and we are unhappy with the situation."
As per recently published report by the World Health Organisation (WHO), in areas where water is currently readily available, like Central Africa and East Asia, it would become harder to find in future. And in areas like the Middle East, already facing water problems, scarcity will worsen even further.