VIEW: Et tu, water… —Andleeb Abbas

Pakistan has one of the lowest agriculture productivity per cubic metre of water in the world. Our cash crops like sugarcane, rice and cotton are all water guzzlers and therefore we really need to question whether it is worth using 97 percent of the water on them

“Only God knows” is the response we receive when we go in search of some extinct natural resource of this country. Energy has already become a lost cause and the negligence of water as a scarce resource is almost assuming criminal proportions. Any resource not taken care of diminishes. Nature has been astoundingly generous to us but the apathy of this nation to all that is good and rare has brought us to the brink of living in a land where creative destruction is the only art unmatched.

In a recent report, water experts from the US have declared Pakistan as a severely water-stressed country and have warned that it may soon be bracketed with Ethiopia and many other famine-driven areas in the world. We are known as the Indus Civilisation but the uncivilised behaviour of its inhabitants has dried up the Indus River into a ditch in many of its traverses. Ninety-two percent of Pakistan is arid or semi-arid and the Indus plain covers only 25 percent of the land, but supports up to 85 percent of our population.

The diminishing quantity of water is a serious issue but the disastrous quality of water is of even graver concern. Out of a population of 170 million, 54 million are without access to safe drinking water, resulting in the deaths of 500,000 babies as a result of waterborne diseases. Two million tonnes of human excreta are produced in cities every year and half of it goes straight into our water bodies that we tap for drinking, cleaning and agriculture.

Ninety-seven percent of the water is used in agriculture and most of it goes waste. Pakistan has one of the lowest agriculture productivity per cubic metre of water in the world. Our cash crops like sugarcane, rice and cotton are all water guzzlers and therefore we really need to question whether it is worth using 97 percent of the water on them. These crops are watered by the traditional flood irrigation method that not only wastes a huge amount of water, but also damages the crops. Drip irrigation methods available in the country have demonstrated that the crops will only get the exact amount of water they deserve. The government has to decide its priorities with regard to water usage. Most of the water for agriculture goes through canals and tube-wells. One-third of the water going through canals gets wasted due to seepage or evaporation. Tube-wells are easy water-providing tools but have a disastrous effect on the water table because they pull up water much more quickly than it can be replaced. The water table drops as much as 1-10 feet annually, but we are digging more and more wells every year. With water bodies melting, rainfall decreasing and the water table dropping, where is the water going to come from?

We need to have a three-pronged strategy, i.e. to use the water we have wisely, fairly and economically at home and in factories. We need to stop polluting our water and, lastly, we need to conserve our water resources so that future generations do not live in a waterless Pakistan the way they are living in an energy-less country.

What we need to inculcate at all levels is to make people understand that no water is wastewater, and that every drop counts. All can be used for various purposes with a reasonable amount of recycling.

Besides agriculture, the major water users are industry and households. Water conservation and management at all levels must be declared mandatory by the government. There should be a national media campaign to create awareness about the issue. In countries like Australia, which have extreme water scarcity, the government has made rainwater harvesting obligatory at household level. Filtered rainwater is used for watering lawns, washing floors, etc. Small steps like refraining from keeping water running while cleaning teeth or taking a bath to wasting scores of litres on washing cars need to be inculcated through school education programmes and other innovative means to make people aware of the importance of the conservation of this precious resource.

Water from industrial usage is not being treated for reuse. Only one percent of industries treat wastewater before discharging it. The toxic water being discharged into our water bodies is causing skin diseases, decline in agricultural productivity, cancer and kidney failure.

Global warming has resulted in the melting of water bodies like glaciers at an abnormal rate, thus creating flooding and almost famine-like conditions in other parts of the country. Another mindset needing a change at all levels is the attitude that the environment is a luxury for the rich and educated. We have seen how mindless building of roads without accommodating tree plantation has actually led to higher temperatures and soil dehydration. With natural water resources being reduced drastically and technology and science not being capitalised for a more efficient use of water, we are limiting our efforts to special Friday prayers to God.

We, as a country, have become ‘addicted’ to crises. The leadership of the country has diversified skills in producing and living in a permanent state of crisis. A couple of years ago, the economy was on its deathbed and was given an economic cortisone by the IMF. Then the security crisis became unbearable and we ran to the US and ‘Friends of Pakistan’ to bail us out. The food and energy crisis has been running neck-to-neck alongside and we are looking for some ‘exorbitant Chinese’ rental solutions to give us an energy breather. And now water is making its presence felt due to its absence. Living in a crisis mode is not sustainable in the long run. It has destroyed the faith of every citizen in the future of this country. The common wisdom is that crisis after crisis can charge the most lethargic of individuals into action. We have seen the will to change gathering pace in the last few years and let us hope that this will becomes strong enough to help us create and walk on the path to change as well.

The writer is a consultant and can be reached at andleeb@franklincoveysouthasia.com