(MENAFN – Gulf Times) As Pakistan faces worsening water scarcity and trouble sourcing international cash for hydropower dams that it says it needs it has turned to an unlikely source of cash: A fundraising campaign backed by the country’s top court judges.
The country’s green-leaning Prime Minister Imran Khan backs the effort.
Khan has urged Pakistanis living overseas to donate generously to the effort, comparing the battle to combat water scarcity to a holy war.
Nisar has said he took up Pakistan’s water worries as a personal campaign after Syed Mehar Ali, commissioner of the country’s Indus water treaty, testified in a court hearing last July about worsening water scarcity risks in the country.
Ali told the court that the country’s three western rivers the Indus, Jhelum and Chenab carry nearly 140 million acre feet (MAF) of water but the country has water storage capacity for less than 14 MAF.
Pakistan needs to store 25 MAF of water each year to help shore up water security, the commissioner said and that would require a series of new large dams, he said.
However, building them has proved difficult.
Pakistan’s government has provided funding for acquisition of land for both projects.
Dozens of farmers from Sindh province marched to Karachi last October to protest construction of the Diamer Basha dam on the Indus River.
However, he believes that if the water storage dam can be built, international investors will come in to provide the infrastructure for power generation from the dam.

A s Pakistan faces worsening water scarcity – and trouble sourcing international cash for hydropower dams it says it needs – it has turned to an unlikely source of cash: A fundraising campaign backed by the country’s top court judges.
The drive aims to raise as much as $14 billion for two major dams.
Nisar retired in January from the court, but the current panel of top judges has taken over the push.
Some politicians from government opposition parties have dismissed the effort, calling it inappropriate and doomed to fail.
“Building dams is not the responsibility of the court,” said Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, chairman of Pakistan People’s Party.
But efforts to solicit donations from as far away as the United States and Britain, largely from expatriate Pakistanis, have raised $70 million as of mid-February toward the “Chief Justice Dam Fund”, according to the Supreme Court of Pakistan’s website.
The country’s green-leaning Prime Minister Imran Khan backs the effort.
“Water scarcity has been Pakistan’s number one issue and the country may face shortages by 2025 if dams are not built,” Khan warned in a state television address last September.
Nisar has said he took up Pakistan’s water worries as a personal campaign after Syed Mehar Ali, commissioner of the country’s Indus water treaty, testified in a court hearing last July about worsening water scarcity risks in the country.
Ali told the court that the country’s three western rivers – the Indus, Jhelum and Chenab – carry nearly 173 billion cubic meters of water but the country has water storage capacity for less than 17.3 billion cubic meters.

By Roshan Din Shad MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan, Feb 24 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – As Pakistan faces worsening water scarcity – and trouble sourcing international cash for hydropower dams it says it needs – it has turned to an unlikely source of cash: A fundraising campaign backed by the country’s top court judges.
Last year Mian Saqib Nisar – then the country’s chief supreme court judge – donated a million Pakistani rupees ($7,400) of his own money to start the drive, calling water shortages a major national threat.
"Building dams is not the responsibility of the court," said Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, chairman of party Pakistan Peoples Party.
"Water (scarcity) has been Pakistan’s number one issue and the country may face shortages by 2025 if dams are not built," Khan warned in a state television address last September.
"Pakistanis, do take part in this jihad," the prime minister urged.
Nisar has said he took up Pakistan’s water worries as a personal campaign after Syed Mehar Ali, commissioner of the country’s Indus water treaty, testified in a court hearing last July about worsening water scarcity risks in the country.
Ali told the court that the country’s three western rivers – the Indus, Jhelum and Chenab – carry nearly 140 million acre feet (MAF) of water but the country has water storage capacity for less than 14 MAF.
But building them has proved difficult.
An effort to construct a large-scale hydropower dam in Gilgit Baltistan, a Kashmir border region disputed with India, for instance, has had trouble attracting multinational funding.
Dozens of farmers from Sindh province marched to Karachi last October to protest construction of the Diamer Basha dam on the Indus River.

"In some areas‚ rivers flowed for the first time in four years – such as the Touws River‚" said Western Cape local government MEC Anton Bredell on Monday.
"The Gamka Dam in Beaufort West also saw some water in it for the first time in years."
However‚ most regions received less than 10mm of rain.
"The reality is that the drought remains in full effect and we continue to plan and manage accordingly‚" said Bredell.
He urged communities in the Karoo to use less water and to report and fix leaks swiftly.
"Municipalities like Beaufort West‚ Kannaland and Laingsburg will continue receiving assistance from the province‚ as has been the case over the past four years‚ but we must urge proper management of the water supply in these towns."
In the past two weeks‚ the provincial department of local government has delivered 34‚000 litres of bottled water to Beaufort West and 11‚000 litres to Laingsburg.
The current dam levels are as follows: Provincial dam average: 46.6% (up from 23.6% in 2018); Dams supplying Cape Town: 58.3% (up from 25.1%); Theewaterskloof Dam: 45.2% (up from 12.3%); Voëlvlei Dam; 73.2% (up from 17.6%); Berg River Dam: 81% (up from 52.4%); and Clanwilliam Dam: 50.6% (up from 14.6%).
Source: TMG Digital.

The parched Karoo received some relief thanks to rain at the weekend – but the drought is by no means broken.
"In some areas, rivers flowed for the first time in four years – such as the Touws River," said Western Cape local government MEC Anton Bredell on Monday.
"The Gamka Dam in Beaufort West also saw some water in it for the first time in years."
However, most regions received less than 10mm of rain.
"The reality is that the drought remains in full effect and we continue to plan and manage accordingly," said Bredell.
He urged communities in the Karoo to use less water and to report and fix leaks swiftly.
"Municipalities like Beaufort West, Kannaland and Laingsburg will continue receiving assistance from the province, as has been the case over the past four years, but we must urge proper management of the water supply in these towns."
In the past two weeks, the provincial department of local government has delivered 34,000 litres of bottled water to Beaufort West and 11,000 litres to Laingsburg.
The current dam levels are as follows: Provincial dam average: 46.6% (up from 23.6% in 2018); Dams supplying Cape Town: 58.3% (up from 25.1%); Theewaterskloof Dam: 45.2% (up from 12.3%); Voëlvlei Dam; 73.2% (up from 17.6%); Berg River Dam: 81% (up from 52.4%); and Clanwilliam Dam: 50.6% (up from 14.6%).

Dam levels in Gauteng and the Eastern Cape are on the decline while provinces like Mpumalanga have seen a slight increase since the summer rains from previous weeks.
Kwa-Zulu Natal dams have remained stable despite the hot summer weather conditions that the province has been facing.
The Department of Water and Sanitation released reports detailing the country’s current dam levels which shows signs that the drought is still happening in certain parts of the country.
Last week the Vaal Dam, showed a slight improvement when it went up to 75.2% from 74.0% the week before.
The Vaal Dam is the lifeblood of the Integrated Vaal River System (IVRS) and is one of the 14 dams that form the backbone of the IVRS, which contributes immensely to the economy of Gauteng.
Dam levels in the Mpumalanga Province recorded a slight increase of 0.2% from 67.6% last week to 67.8% this week.
The report also shows that InkomatiUsuthu catchment recorded a slight increase from 69.4% last week to 69.6% this week whilst the Olifants catchment slightly decreased from 58.3% to 58.2% during the same period.
The hot temperatures have led to a slight decline in some dams around the province.
Here is your weekly dam update: The Vaal River System consisting of 14 dams serving mainly Gauteng Sasol and Eskom is at 92.8%.
Here are the latest dam percentages throughout the country: For a more in-depth rainfall update, visit WeatherSA or click here.

Fears linger for livelihoods as new villages being built for Lao victims may not be suitable for agriculture THE VICTIMS of the Xi Pian-Xe Namnoi Dam collapse may not be able to return to their normal lives any time soon because the locations of their new villages and farmlands are unsuitable for living and farming.
Some of the people affected by the deadly hydropower-dam disaster in Attapeu province of southern Laos were recently compensated for the loss of family members.
So they are finding new land for us on higher ground to rebuild and to farm and the dam companies are building the houses for us,” Wan said.
“Even though the village construction is slower than planned, we can now see where our village will be and where we can farm because the site has already been cleared and construction is now progressing.” Sanamxay district chief Bounhome Phommasane told ABC Laos News report in October that every displaced resident would be able to move into five newly built villages the following month.
If we move into the new village, we will have to live in an unfamiliar arid environment where we cannot grow rice and will find it very difficult to find clean water,” he said.
The authorities will dig groundwater wells to provide clean water for the villagers, Wan was told.
Lao Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith said the main priority for the government was to assist the affected people in every way so they could get back to their normal lives.
The Prime Minister’s Office last Friday issued an order directing SK Engineering and Construction, the South Korean dam construction company, and Xe-Pian Xe-Namnoy Power Co, the dam operator, to pay US$10,000 (Bt320,000) for each of the 71 people officially accounted for as deceased or missing to their families.
Many said $10,000 was a large sum, but for the disaster victims who had lost family members and all their possessions, the amount was far from enough to rebuild their lives.
The affected people will have to wait until the government and dam companies can agree on the amount, the source said.

PESHAWAR: Prime Minister Imran Khan has said construction of Mohmand dam to address water scarcity issues of Peshawar once it for all, ARY News reported on Friday.
This he said while addressing a ceremony held in the province’s Nishtar Hall to mark 100 days of the PTI government.
“Government is collecting funds for construction of Mohmand dam like Bhasha, plan is to provide potable drinking water to every Pakistani” PM contented.
He said people of Khyber Pakhtunkhuwa re-elected PTI to rule over the province for the second consecutive time over its performance of last five years in the province.
“The second chance given by people of KP shows trust of people of KP in PTI,” the PM maintained.
Mr Khan said he sees no precedent in past that steps were taken for transforming Pakistan into a welfare state, “Policies were only formed to benefit small section of the society,” he lamented.
Unveiling government’s steps for uplifting of the education sector in the country, Prime Minister Imran Khan a uniform education system will be introduced in the country soon.
Terming the serving of masses, a top priority, PM urged ministers to ensure their presence at their respective offices on daily basis to come up with the expectations of the people of the province, according to the mandate that was given to PTI in 2018 General Polls.
Prime Minister Imran Khan revealed that two secretaries were working against elected government, “Ministers should take action against bureaucrats who are creating hindrances in rendering public services,” he added.
Imran Khan said he was ridiculed over selling PM’s house buffaloes, unfortunately no steps were taken after independence to narrow gap between people of the country and governments.

Speaking on Thursday during an inspection tour of Kakovu earth dam in Mwitika, Kitui East Sub-County, Bishop Kyavoa, who is an advisor in the office of Governor Charity Ngilu observed that some of the earth dams have already harvested water from the recent rains.
“Kwa Kalii earth dam in Kanziku ward, Kitui South Sub County as below is now full of water.
Bishop Kyavoa disclosed that rainwater harvesting has been in existence for many decades as a way of augmenting available water resources in the world.
‘In the years of its existence, rainwater harvesting has positively impacted life, agriculture and economy,” he added.
Despite these known benefits of rainwater harvesting, Kitui County’s population is slowly adopting rainwater harvesting technologies, ‘Water scarcity still remains a major constraint to life and economic development in the County.’ Although clean and safe water is a treasured commodity, many people in Kitui County do not have access to it.
Caritas Kitui Director Florence Ndeti observes that water shortage affects rural women more since it’s their cultural role to provide water.
“They are more concerned with rainwater harvesting projects as compared to men.
Therefore, training and awareness creation on rainwater harvesting amongst women should be enhanced,” said Ndeti.
She said that literacy levels influence adoption of rainwater harvesting to enable school going children attend lessons rather than being at home helping their parents search for water for domestic use.
By Yobesh Onwong’a

Michael McCormack has announced an extra $500m for water infrastructure projects, including dams, a near doubling of capital spending in the Coalition’s water infrastructure fund.
The acting prime minister and Nationals leader gave few details on Monday about which projects would benefit except that the funding would be used “to identify and co-fund the construction of new water infrastructure projects across regional Australia” with state and territory governments.
It’s still public infrastructure projects keeping the economy afloat | Greg Jericho Read more Labor attacked the announcement as a “thought bubble” and criticised the government’s record on water infrastructure.
The $500m funding commitment tops up the Coalition’s $520m national water infrastructure development fund, which has already been committed to projects, and comes after the Coalition set up a $2bn water infrastructure loan facility.
McCormack said the Coalition “aren’t afraid to back dams – we want to build more of them”.
“If we want to create jobs and grow regional Australia then we need to add water,” he said.
“This announcement will turbocharge the construction of water infrastructure in regional Australia because our agricultural industries expect it and our communities deserve it.” The only projects nominated to gain from the $500m cash injection are: a $2m feasibility study to increase water supply in Queensland’s north and south Burnett regions; $1m to help Western Australia’s southern forest irrigation scheme pass regulatory hurdles; and $250,000 to help design Victoria’s coldstream recycled water pipeline.
Labor’s agriculture spokesman, Joel Fitzgibbon, said the announcement “is just another dam thought bubble driven by political desperation”.
“People in Queensland will understandably be sceptical,” he said.
On Monday the treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, did little to dampen expectations of a big-spending mid-year economic outlook, refusing to rule out the possibility that the government would use the update to bring forward its income tax cut plan.