ISLAMABAD : The Pakistan Economy Watch (PEW) has presented a horrifyingpicture on the issue of water scarcity in Pakistan.
PEW on Sunday said the scarcity of water is transforming the country intoa desert.
A country dependent on agriculture has framed its first National WaterPolicy after seventy long years while the provinces like Punjab and Sindhhave yet to announce their water policies, it said.
President PEW Dr. Murtaza Mughal said that water scarcity has been feltacross the country but nobody seems concerned about water management toreduce its wastage.
He said that per capita availability of water in Pakistan stood at 5,260cubic metres in 1951 which was reduced to 1000 cubic meters by 2016 and itis likely to further drop to about 860 by 2025 which will be a doomsdayscenario for the country.
Dr. Murtaza Mughal said that the Indus River system receives an annualinflux of about 134.8 million acre-feet (MAF) of water of which water worthsixty billion dollars is wasted.
Reduced supply and increased demand has forced people, mostly farmers, toextract around 50 million acre-feet of groundwater which is unsustainable,he said.
Around ninety-five percent of the available water is utilised by theagricultural sector which a major chunk is wasted by water-intensive cropsof sugarcane and rice.
The area under cultivation for water and rice continue to increase whichshould be seen as a threat, he demanded.