Pakistan was declared a water-stressed country in 2005.
Over 90 percent of our water resources are consumed by the agricultural sector and 50 percent of them are wasted on outdated irrigation practices.
The remaining 10 percent are used by civic and industrial purposes.
The water scarcity is one of the major challenges that we are facing.
If news reports are to serve as a useful gauge, the amount of fresh water in the country is rapidly decreasing and the quantity of polluted water is increasing.
As a result, water isn’t suitable for human consumption.
The scarcity of water has also produced conflicts over its possession, which have adversely impact our economy.
On an entirely individual level, we should avoid wasting water by leaving our taps running.
We also need large water reservoirs to store water and prevent it from overflowing.
Muhammad Rafay Waqar Lahore

JAMSHORO: Warning against injustice to the metropolis, Federal Minister for Water Resources Faisal Vawda on Monday said he would take serious action, if Karachi was not given its due share of water by the Sindh government.
“I will not get blackmailed because of the 18th Amendment in the Constitution.
He asked Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah to address the water theft and distribution issues.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader said the Sindh government had failed to deliver.
Water worth billions of rupees was being stolen in the province, he said.
He said security personnel should be posted at water distribution canals within two weeks.
He said he would refer a case to the National Accountability Bureau about corruption in dam.
He said he would not let the Sindh government waste Rs11 billion for the sake of Rs1.25 billion.
“Generally, poor get stuck in corruption and affluent persons get off scot-free, but I will not let it happen again even if it is Nawaz Sharif,” he said adding that the prime minister had given him free-hand against corrupt elements.
— Faisal Vawda (@FaisalVawdaPTI) October 15, 2018

There will be 5 thematic sessions on subjects of legal aspects of Indus Basin Water, construction of dams and reservoirs, financing of dams and reservoirs, ground water, water recharge and water pricing and water resources’ governance and management.
In this theme, discussions will be made on the Indus Basin Water Treaty 1960.
Moreover, international experts from the United States and Australia will discuss similar issues in comparable basins in these countries.
The second theme will cover the issue of construction of dams and water reservoirs which are need of the day for effective storage of water and generation of hydroelectric power.
In this session, the experts will discuss the need of construction of new dams in the country as per the requirements of ever-growing population of Pakistan.
International experts will discuss the short term and long-term actions required for construction of dams and sediment management in the Indus.
The 3rd session will focus on financial aspects of construction of dams.
The fourth session will discuss reasons for the shortage of ground water, devising strategies to recharge the aquifer and water pricing regimes that could be introduced on the extraction of the underground water.
The inaugural session will be chaired by President Dr Arif Alvi.
The concluding session will be chaired by the Chief Justice.

Mumbai, Oct 14 (PTI) The Nationalist Congress Party will hold rallies in Maharashtra from Monday to protest against water scarcity, rising fuel prices and load-shedding, state unit chief Jayant Patil said.
The party plans to stop vehicles of ministers on official visits as the state government is not addressing the issues of the common man, Patil said Sunday.
The rallies would start from public places and would end with party functionaries submitting memorandums of grievances to revenue officials at tehsil and district levels, the NCP leader said.
“The rallies will be held in several parts of the state to mobilise the people against the ruling government.
We will also stop the vehicles of ministers on official visits because this government is not addressing the issues of the common man,” Patil said.
“There is no limit to fuel prices, which have continued to escalate.
The power supply in rural parts of the state is not regular and highly insufficient,” Patil said.
He alleged that the government’s faulty policies had led to water scarcity in Maharashtra which had annoyed people.
“The people are annoyed with the government but no one is listening to their grievances,” he claimed.
This is published unedited from the PTI feed.

Mumbai: In addition to scorching temperatures, lakhs of residents in Thane district will have to endure more hardship as the irrigation department has ordered a 22 per cent water cut every week in industrial areas of the district from October 21 owing to water scarcity.
Water supply will be shut for one day in a week for Kalyan-Dombivali, Bhiwandi, Ulhasnagar, Ambernath and Badlapur.
The situation arose due to poor rainfall in September, said an official of the irrigation department.
Though enough water is available in the dams in the districts, its usage is being carefully rationed till July 31, 2019.
Considering evaporation losses and other factors, the irrigation department has taken a review of the water stock in dams, which is less compared to last year’s.
So, the irrigation department asked the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corpora-tion (MIDC) and all corporations that are involved in the Temghar project among others about water cuts.
Due to the 22 per cent water cuts, the supply of water will be shut for one day in a week.
Thousands of industries will suffer due to the water cuts until the next monsoon, and small and medium-scale industries in the belt may suffer financial losses due to scaled-down production, said a senior officer.
He added, “We don’t have other option as not much rainfall occurred in September.”

CAIRO – 14 October 2018: Egypt adopted a four-way strategy to mitigate water scarcity that resulted from climate change and the increased consumption, said First Deputy Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Ragab Abdel-Azim.
This came during Abdel Azim’s speech at the fourth session of the Islamic Conference of OIC for Water Ministers, held on Sunday, Oct. 14 on the sidelines of the First Cairo Water Week.
Egypt’s 2050 strategy boils down to improving water quality, developing water resources, rationalizing consumption and creating a good environment to implement this strategy, he added in the speech that was given on behalf of Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation, Mohamed Abdel-Atti.
Egypt suffers a water shortage crisis amid an increasing consumption rate, he added, noting that 79 percent of Egypt’s resources come from outside its borders.
Abdel Azim said that the country has taken several steps to start implementing this strategy via reducing rice cultivation areas by more than 30 percent.
On May 21, Egypt’s President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi ratified new amendments to Agriculture Law No.
53 of 1966, per which the government will determine the areas to cultivate certain water-intensive crops, such as rice and sugarcane, amid the water shortage crisis in order to rationalize water usage.
The deputy minister said that Egypt also focused on using solar energy in irrigation systems, adding that the Egyptian government signed an agreement with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on using solar-powered irrigation systems in sites depending on underground water.
Egypt’s first Cairo Water Week (CWW) kicked off on Sunday, Oct 14 under the auspices of President Sisi, aiming at increasing public awareness of water rationalization for sustainable development amid a state of water shortage.
The four-day CWW is being held in cooperation with the European Union and the United Nations’ Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) to tackle water issues, amid climate change that impacts the world’s freshwater.

The Nationalist Congress Party will hold rallies in Maharashtra from Monday to protest against water scarcity, rising fuel prices and load-shedding, state unit chief Jayant Patil said.
The party plans to stop vehicles of ministers on official visits as the state government is not addressing the issues of the common man, Patil said Sunday.
The rallies would start from public places and would end with party functionaries submitting memorandums of grievances to revenue officials at tehsil and district levels, the NCP leader said.
“The rallies will be held in several parts of the state to mobilise the people against the ruling government.
We will also stop the vehicles of ministers on official visits because this government is not addressing the issues of the common man,” Patil said.
“There is no limit to fuel prices, which have continued to escalate.
The power supply in rural parts of the state is not regular and highly insufficient,” Patil said.
He alleged that the government’s faulty policies had led to water scarcity in Maharashtra which had annoyed people.
“The people are annoyed with the government but no one is listening to their grievances,” he claimed.

Abdulrazaq Mungadi, Gombe The dualisation of Gombe-Bauchi Road was meant to be make life a lot easier for the road users.
Unfortuantely, it has become a source of misery and difficulty for the people of Shongo Hamma Community of Akko Local Government Area of Gombe State.
The Water Reticulation Project of the administration, which has been the only source of potable has been undermined by the new road project.
The construction has disrupted supply of potable water, leaving the community with no option but to revert to the traditional way of sourcing for water, shallow wells dug on the bed of seasonal streams.
The community, located some eight kilo- meters away from the Gombe metropolis has suffered water shortage.
READ ALSO: 2019: The Battle of Baba 70s To get water to serve their various needs, members of these communities either fetch from the well or resort to buying from the water vendors- who hardly come round because of dilapidated state of the road.
Apart from the fact that their water costs so much, its quality is suspect and has been linked to many health issues in the community.
On several occasions, they have assured the people that they would end the problem of water scarcity, not just in Shongo Hamma community and Tumfure Quarters, but in the whole of Gombe State.
He said the state government has done well in the provision of water supply in the state, adding that those highlighting the purported water issue in Shongo Hamma and Tumfure communities were only making promises they cannot fulfill.
Expansion of the water treatment plant has become more than necessary but the N30 billion needed for the project is not on the table.

A total of 200 talukas in the state of Maharashtra have been identified as scarcity-like conditions, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Tuesday.
Speaking to reporters after chairing an emergency ministerial meeting on the issue, Fadnavis said that the state ministers were apprised of the prevailing conditions and were also asked to submit a report to him on this issue.
"The main focus is how to tackle the drought-hit talukas in the state.
One of the main reasons behind the drought is the low rainfall which has been recorded just 77 percent, less than the average-mark in the state.
We are following the drought manual given by the Centre and that has helped us in planning everything well in advance," he said.
The Chief Minister further said that a Central team will soon be visiting to these talukas to review the situation.
"Be it water-scarcity issues or crop damages, I have instructed the ministers to make a detailed plan after they visit the drought-hit talukas.
This not only helps in understanding the situation but allows to counter-check.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Quick Links

Number of rain deficient talukas has gone from 54 to 201 in one month Only 63 talukas have recieved 100 per cent rainfall Natural disasters have affected 1,41,255 hectares of crops in state Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis today asked his ministers to undertake visits to water scarcity affected talukas in the state as the drought alarm bells rang aloud at the meeting of the council of ministers.
As per statistics available with the government, initially, just 54 out of 355 talukas had received deficient rainfall in August.
The figure has now shot up to 201, a rise of 147 talukas in a span of just one month.
As per the report of the Maharashtra Remote Sensing Application Center, 28 talukas have received 25 to 50 per cent rainfall whereas 143 have received 50 to 75 per cent rainfall and 121 have received 75 to 100 per cent rainfall.
Only 63 talukas have received 100 per cent seasonal rainfall till August end.
Crops like cotton, soya bean, tur, moong and others have been affected.
Sadashiv Khot, Minister of State for Agriculture, said that cotton is a worst affected crop due to water shortage.
The Union government has laid down revised guidelines for determining drought conditions.
A report by the Relief and Rehabilitation Department states: "Considering the deviation of the rainfall, if the period between two consecutive rainfall is more than three to four weeks and if the average rainfall recorded is below 50 per cent in June and July month, the government considers the situation in such villages or talukas is under Trigger-1 mode of the drought-prone definition."
Jump to navigation