Lahorites to purchase water like edibles in future

LAHORE - The water level in the City is on the downhill at the rate of five to 10 meter annually and time has almost approached when Lahorites will purchase water on daily basis at high rates like food and fuel supply. The major reasons behind this alarming decrease in water were its relentless usage, increasing population, over construction, over consumption and lack of rains. Punjab University Professor Munawar Sabir talking to The Nation said that in 1830 the population of the World was one billion and now it was about seven billions, consequently, now one replaces seven and consumption of water has increased with the same ratio. He said annually three million population was being add in Pakistan and if a person needs three liters of water only to drink then we must need nine million liters extra water every years for drinking purpose only. He said although 'mob is slower than bomb yet it may prove deadly than the bomb. He said the City was not only facing alarming population increase but the urbanization rate was also going on at high rate, which is aggravating the situation in the City. He said if the government did not pay attention to this situation the City would turn into a dry island. On the other side, large-scale construction of plazas, housing societies, shopping malls etc was also adding to this water dearth. He said without planning means if the constructions are without green belts, rain fall on the buildings would go waste for no space to absorb it in the earth which will ultimately contributes to the underground water shortage. Similarly environment analysts are of the view that without allocating space for parks, green belts along with the constructed areas, the big cities like Lahore would be vulnerable to floods in the future. Executive Director of Urban Development and Environment Research Centre, Dr Attiq-ur-Rehman said that the government should focus the issue on the war footing. Prof Munawar said that development authorities should take the measures on emergency ground to bind the constructors to leave green belt along with their construction. Environmentalists say as a nation we face many problems as such we need to be more aware and sensitive to the water and environment related issues. Even doing the tooth brush a person wastes 4 to 5 liters water which amounts not only to a crime given the water shortage situation but also a sin for it was tantamount to depriving others of their basic right. . Dr Shagufta Shahjahan, Director General Environmental Protection Agency said the unnecessary use of water on minor things like hand wash, tooth brushing is effecting directly the economy of the country. Similarly arsenic in water is a growing threat to health, about which the WASA however held a different view. Dr Attique and Dr Shagufta both confirmed that arsenic was present in underground water in the City, which was causing serious diseases to the citizens. Prof Munawar said that despite saying that a war on water was inevitable with India, we have already waged a war with our own water resources. The government needs to tackle the water problem on war footings. And if no concrete measures are taken today, it is likely that after 10 to 15 years the situation would become out of control. Population bombs, lack of resources and other problems are already impeding our way to deal with the water problem, if the situation went on like this and no solid steps are taken, the City would become dry of water and no solution would be available to overcome its dearth, comment the environmental experts.