According to Planning and Development Division sources, per capita water availability at the time of creation of Pakistan was 5,600 cubic meters, but presently it stands at only 1,000 cubic meters and it will be further reduced in next couple of years, as Pakistan has failed to improve its water storage capacity in the country.
Despite claims by the government to construct storage for 5.218 million acre feet of water during 2013 to 2018, the government has been able to manage storage capacity for 3.54 million acre feet of water.
41.422 billion in PSDP for water sector which was 18 percent of the total development allocations but the present government reduced it in its first year 2013-2014 when its allocation for water resources was just 10 percent of the total development allocations.
During the year, 2015-16, this allocation was further reduced to just 4 percent of the total allocation for the development.
It has been planned by the Planning Commission that concrete measures would be taken to increase water storage capacity from the current 30 days to 45 days by 2018 and 90 days by 2025.
Due to lack of water storages in Pakistan, there is no additional water to be injected into the system and there is no feasible intervention leading to make more water available for the consumers.
Due to lack of proper facilities for consuming water, about two million acres of land has been lost to sea water intrusion in coastal areas of Sindh province, and the problem is getting even worse due to inadequate environmental flow and allied issues.
Edible oil is one of the major imports of Pakistan, and with fair and integrated management of water can cut this import bill largely and save billions of dollars being used for the import of the oil.
At present due to shortage of water, the country is even forced to import cotton and vegetables.
There is also shortage of clean drinking water and about 80 percent of diseases in the country are water borne claiming 40 percent of death.