ISLAMABAD – Adviser to Prime Minister on Climate Change Malik Amin AslamMonday said Pakistan was wasting its 40 million acre feet (MAF) of waterreaching its reserviour to Tarbela in 100 days due to no storage capacity.
He was addressing the Climate Change Adaptation Conference organized byPakistan Humanitarian Forum (PHF) here.
The adviser said Pakistan was signatory to Ramsar Convention on Wetlandsand according to it, Pakistan had 15 potential sites at the eastern andwestern banks of Indus River. These sites could be used as a storagecapacity to recharge underground water as a wetlands and sources forecological conservation.
“We have the only source to store this plenty of water dumped into theoceans is aquifer (underground water),” he added.
He informed the conference that the project Recharge Pakistan had beenshaped in this regard to conserve the 40MAF wasted water which was sent tothe Global Climate Fund (GCF) for its approval to get grant forimplementation.
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It was likely to get approved by the next year, he said adding we were notmanaging our water resources and it was leading to water crisis in thecountry.
He said despite rapidly melting glaciers of Himalaya and Hindu Kush thatwere shared by India, Pakistan and China whereas Karakoram glaciers werenot melting which was a positive sign.
The reason for no melting in Karakoram mountain range was its high altitudeposition at 7,000m and black layer of debris that prevented direct impactof sunlight and rising temperature effects, he added.
