Pakistan faces both immediate and long-term water challenges.
Right now, our primarily problem is that of distribution.
Water is inefficiently diverted for agricultural use, where allocation is done on the basis of the size of landholdings rather than need.
This leads to tiered access to water, with rich landowners getting the lion’s share of water while the landless poor face chronic shortages.
Even within the same communities, women are often dependent on men for access to safe drinking water.
As rivers dry up and chronic drought becomes the norm, the country needs policies in place to ensure the equitable distribution of water.
Conservation policies will have to be put in place and the use of water prioritised.
Along with water, steps to check our burgeoning population will also be needed.
In the political realm, the Indus Waters Treaty may need to be renegotiated and updated to better reflect the reality of climate change.
This dystopian future is not as far away as we think, especially if we continue on our current trajectory.

NEW DELHI: While Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP claim to have brought water to the parched regions of poll-bound Gujarat, it appears that drinking water availability still remains a problem in the state.
An analysis of data, as on November 1, of funds spent under the MP Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) shows that the maximum projects sanctioned by the 26 Lok Sabha members from the state related to drinking water facilities.
Road-related works came next, with funds allocated to 155 projects for construction of roads, approach roads, link roads etc.. As Gujarat Chief Minister, Modi had pushed for the expansion of the Sardar Sarovar Project (SSP), which stores the Narmada waters in various dams to allow parched areas of the state access to drinking waters and irrigation facilities.
After a long-drawn judicial battle, the state government was allowed to raise the height of the main dam of SSP a few months ago.
The helped increase the storage capacity of the dam 3.75 times to 4.73 million acre-feet.
Now, the government claims that 20 lakh hectares of agricultural land would have access to irrigation facilities, besides drinking water.
While the Gujarat MPs clearly accord priority to drinking water availability, analysis of the MPLADS data for the country shows MPs’ preference for works related to railways, bridges and pathways.
Together, these accounted for 10,711 of the total 26,972 projects sanctioned.
BJP veteran L K Advani, MP from Gandhinagar, has spent 93 per cent of the funds while actor-turned-politician Paresh Rawal, who represents Ahmedebad, has utilised 83.92 per cent funds.
Together, the Gujarat MPs have so far utilised 82.46 per cent of the MPLADS funds released so far.

NEW DELHI: While Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP claim to have brought water to the parched regions of poll-bound Gujarat, it appears that drinking water availability still remains a problem in the state.
An analysis of data, as on November 1, of funds spent under the MP Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) shows that the maximum projects sanctioned by the 26 Lok Sabha members from the state related to drinking water facilities.
Road-related works came next, with funds allocated to 155 projects for construction of roads, approach roads, link roads etc.. As Gujarat Chief Minister, Modi had pushed for the expansion of the Sardar Sarovar Project (SSP), which stores the Narmada waters in various dams to allow parched areas of the state access to drinking waters and irrigation facilities.
After a long-drawn judicial battle, the state government was allowed to raise the height of the main dam of SSP a few months ago.
The helped increase the storage capacity of the dam 3.75 times to 4.73 million acre-feet.
Now, the government claims that 20 lakh hectares of agricultural land would have access to irrigation facilities, besides drinking water.
While the Gujarat MPs clearly accord priority to drinking water availability, analysis of the MPLADS data for the country shows MPs’ preference for works related to railways, bridges and pathways.
Together, these accounted for 10,711 of the total 26,972 projects sanctioned.
BJP veteran L K Advani, MP from Gandhinagar, has spent 93 per cent of the funds while actor-turned-politician Paresh Rawal, who represents Ahmedebad, has utilised 83.92 per cent funds.
Together, the Gujarat MPs have so far utilised 82.46 per cent of the MPLADS funds released so far.

The ground-water level is declining in Lahore with a depletion rate of approximately about 2.5 to 3.0 feet per year.
If the present trend continues, the situation will become even worse by 2040 demanding an urgent need to conserve ground-water and adopt strategies at the earliest, said speakers at the fifth session of citywide partnership under the project ‘International Labour and Environmental Standards (ILES)’ arranged by the World Wide Fund for Nature-Pakistan (WWF) here on Thursday.
A case study on River Ravi was also shared in the session which highlighted issues around the basin such as ground and surface water quality deterioration, over-abstraction of groundwater, inequitable development leading to increased water stress and increase in waterborne diseases.
The stakeholders discussed and recommended solutions such as improvements in water allocations between surface and groundwater, increased levels of treatment for industrial and municipal effluent and improvement in environmental flows.
River Ravi is one of the eastern rivers apart from River Sutlej and River Beas in the Indus Basin.
Speaking on the occasion, Hammad Naqi Khan, Director General WWF-Pakistan, said: "Pakistan is water stressed country and is nearing the threshold of water scarcity.
Access to safe drinking water in rural and urban areas is declining and provision of potable water is a key issue that people are facing."
Khan was also of the view that safe drinking water should be made available to the population and industries need to ensure proper disposal of solid and liquid waste.
Engr Zamir A Somroo, Regional Director PCRWR, informed the audience that the PCRWR has experimented with rainwater harvesting models on a pilot scale and such artificial ground-water recharge can be a good option in restoring Lahore’s groundwater.
Ghulam Zakir Hassan Sial, Director Irrigation Research Institute (IRI), Irrigation Department, Government of Punjab, said that depletion of ground-water has become severe over the years and that the Groundwater Act may help in the restoration of Lahore’s ground-water.

LAHORE – Lahore may face huge water shortage by the year 2025, if the depletion of groundwater continues with the same pace.
The absence of national water policy and rapid growth in urbanization are the big factors behind this threat.
The alarming situation was disclosed on Thursday during a session conducted by World Wide Fund for Nature-Pakistan (WWF-Pakistan) under the project titled International Labour and Environmental Standards (ILES) implementation in Pakistan’s Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in collaboration with Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resource s(PCRWR), Irrigation Research Institute (IRI), Irrigation Department and Government of Punjab.
The participants were informed that the groundwater level of Lahore is depleting at a rate of 2.5 to 3 feet per year.
Currently, more than 160 million litres of groundwater is extracted per day thru hand pumps, motor pumps and tube wells in addition to the amount of water used for the industrial and recreational purpose.
According to the experts, the consumption pattern of water in the city was highly unsustainable as it was not just depleting the groundwater but also contaminating the Ravi which is the main source of water recharge in the city.
WWF-Pakistan Director General Hammad Naqi Khan said that Pakistan was a water-stressed country and the situation will worsen in the near future.
He added that the industrial units around the city were a major factor in contaminating groundwater as they keep disposing water contaminated with copper, chromium, and nickel.
Ghulam Zakir Hassan Sial, Director Irrigitation Research Institute (IRI), Irrigation Department, Government of Punjab, said that the depletion of groundwater has become severe over the years and that the Groundwater Act may help in the restoration of Lahore’s groundwater.
Other stakeholders were of the view that the safe drinking water should be made available to the population while the industries need to ensure proper disposal solid and liquid waste.

GENEVA (Reuters) – The capital Sanaa and al-Bayda have joined the list of Yemen cities without clean water due to the blockade by a Saudi-led coalition which has cut off supplies of fuel for pumping, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Monday.
Since April, some 940,768 people in Yemen have been infected with cholera, a water-borne disease, in the world’s worst epidemic in a single year that has killed at least 2,200, and cases of dysentery are being reported, she said.
“The water and sewage systems in Dhamar and Amaran are now providing only half the normal coverage,” Jaquemet added.
The Saudi-led coalition closed all air, land and sea access to Yemen on Nov. 6 following the interception of a missile fired towards the Saudi capital, saying it had to stem the flow of arms from Iran to its Houthi opponents in the war in Yemen.
On Friday, the ICRC said three cities – Saada, Taiz and Hodeidah – had run out of clean water because the blockade had cut imports of fuel needed for pumping and sanitation, depriving close to 1 million people of clean water.
Some seven million people are already on the brink of famine.
“The situation for dialysis patients, already urgent, is now critical,” Jaquemet said.
The ICRC had reports of some 20 kidney patients requiring dialysis having died over the last weeks “due to the non-availability of treatment”, she said.
Other centers in Yemen have been forced to close, sending more patients to three ICRC-supported facilities.
“Given the current state of supplies, it is expected that dialysis centers in Ibb, Taiz and al-Bayda will soon be forced to close, leaving close to 1,000 patients without the sort of treatment on which their lives depend,” Jaquemet said.

21 November 2017 – The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is working with authorities in Bangladesh to urgently investigate high levels E.coli contamination in water drawn from wells inside the Rohingya refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar.
Between 25 August and 11 November 2017, a total of 36,096 AWD cases were reported, –including 10 related deaths – 42 per cent, or 15,206, of which were children under age five.
“We are seeing an upward trend in infection rates.
“Contamination may be being caused through poor hygiene practices, such as the use of dirty containers [and] bad hygiene habits of the population in water handling,” the spokesperson said.
“We are stepping up measures to distribute water purification tablets to provide for water treatment at the household level as well as promoting good hygiene practices,” he said, noting that providing safe drinking water has been one of UNICEF’s highest priorities in responding to the Rohingya refugees’ needs.
Smaller settlements at risk of being overlooked Since 25 August, some 622,000 refugees fleeing violence in Myanmar have sought refuge in Cox’s Bazar – bringing the total number of refugees there to an estimated 834,000.
Although most are in the main settlements, 22,067 refugees live in Shamlapur, with 16 people sharing one latrine that are mostly full or dangerous; 22,130 in Leda, which has only one latrine per 47 people – well below the humanitarian ‘Sphere’ standard of one per 20 people; and 29,915 in Unchiprang, where there is also only one well per 57 people.
Many are contaminated with E.coli or are too shallow to provide enough clean water for the population through the dry season.
IOM emergency managers say that the three sites urgently need to be developed, including providing vital infrastructure – access roads, lighting and waste management.
“Most of the temporary pit latrines are full.

NAIROBI, Nov. 21 (Xinhua)–Kenya’s ministry of health and bilateral partners will back innovative financing models to boost access to safe drinking water and sanitation in a bid to reduce a growing burden of communicable diseases, officials said on Tuesday.
Cleopa Mailu, Cabinet Secretary for Health, said that robust financing coupled with policy incentives are key to achieving universal access to clean water and basic sanitation in the country.
"We are committed to improving water and sanitation systems in the country as a means to reduce spread of communicable diseases such as cholera and typhoid that continue to strain our healthcare facilities," Mailu said during a forum to discuss integration of health, water, sanitation and hygiene agenda in the Vision 2030 blue print for economic growth and social transformation.
Kenya has enacted a new water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) policy whose implementation will have positive impact on the country’s economy and health status of communities.
Mailu noted that improved access to clean water and sanitation has unleashed benefits that include reduced maternal and infant deaths, higher school enrollment and productivity among working adults.
"Significant progress has been made in reducing diarrheal diseases that are leading cause of infant deaths thanks to improved water and sewerage services in the last decade," said Mailu.
He added that vibrant research combined with investments in appropriate technologies is key to boosting access to safe drinking water and sanitation.
"Our research capacity must be strengthened to help identify durable solution to water and sanitation crises in fast growing cities and towns," said Mailu, noting that Kenya is on course to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal six (SDG6) on universal access to clean water and sanitation given the political will.
Kenya’s Vision 2030 identifies access to clean water and sanitation as a prerequisite to enhancing socio-economic transformation in the country.
Julius Muia, the Director General, Vision 2030 Delivery Secretariat, underscored the critical role of partnerships, home-grown financing and policy reforms to bridge a huge water and sanitation access gap in the country.

A study in Bengaluru’s Nelamangala town found that poor sanitation structures are known to leach faecal contaminants into the groundwater.
To its credit, India has a vision, in its Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, to eradicate open defecation and provide safe sanitation.
But in India’s growing peri-urban areas, Swachh Bharat’s one-size-fits-all strategy of building toilets may end up doing more harm than good.
These areas depend on groundwater for drinking and other domestic needs, and on on-site sanitation systems to manage human waste.
But poor sanitation structures are known to leach faecal contaminants into the groundwater which can adversely affect human health.
Nelamangala has a population of 37,232 and according to Census 2011, nearly 98% of the households here have access to some form of on-site sanitation system (either soak pits or septic tanks), which means that a large number of the families dispose of their waste (black water) locally underground.
With nearly all middle and high income families having access to on-site sanitation systems, there is now a growing number of soak pits in this town that are close to borewells, which can pollute the local drinking water.
By only focussing its efforts on building toilets to ensure safe sanitation, without considering the cost of unsafe sanitation systems, Swachh Bharat Abhiyan may compromise access to safe drinking water, in turn adversely affecting human health.
Septic tanks are proven to be better alternatives to soak pits, and are easy to implement in rural and peri-urban towns where the segregation of black and grey water takes place at the household level.
Our study in Nelamangala found that irrespective of household income levels, all individual homeowners built soak pits and almost all of them were unaware of the difference between soak pits and septic tanks.

The Vermont Department of Health, in partnership with the agencies of education and natural resources, is launching a pilot project designed to encourage schools to test drinking water for lead at each tap used for drinking or cooking, and take actions to lower lead levels.
Over the next few months, Health Department and Department of Environmental Conservation staff will visit each school and work with its facility team to inventory and test taps used for drinking and cooking.
“We are committed to making sure all Vermonters have access to clean and safe drinking water.” Ms. Moore explained that any tap that tests over the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) action level for lead in public drinking water systems will be taken out of use, and state agencies will work with each school to identify fixes and re-test to make sure lead levels have been reduced.
Schools that have their own drinking water source, such as a well, already test their water for lead in accordance with the federal Safe Drinking Water Act.
“Lead poisoning is a serious but preventable health problem, with children and pregnant women at greatest risk,” said Deputy Health Commissioner Tracy Dolan.
“This is an opportunity to help schools test their water, identify problems, and take often easy and low cost steps to reduce lead exposure.” EPA set the action level for lead in public drinking water at 15 parts per billion (ppb).
Because there is no safe level of lead, the Health Department encourages schools to reduce lead levels in drinking water as much as possible.
In 2016, more than 600 Vermont children under the age of six were found to have lead poisoning.
Learn more about lead in school drinking water at healthvermont.gov/environment/school/lead-school-drinking-water.
— from the Vermont Health Department.