ISLAMABAD – Due to lack of dams and reservoirs, 140 million acre feet sweetwater worth of $40 billion is wasted in the ocean annually. A big chain ofmonsoon rains has been entered into Pakistan from Arabian ocean and Bay ofBengal, which will gain momentum in coming time.
According to experts, during monsoon season, on average 140 million acrefeet water will inundate the rivers across the country; unfortunately, only36 per cent of it would be used for some productive purposes while theother 64 per cent will be wasted.——————————
Water storage facilities are way too low in Pakistan as it is only 11 percent, and in other countries on average this capacity is more than 40 percent. On the other side, storage capacity of Tarbela, Mangla, and Chashmahas reduced to a large extent.
Additionally, Pakistan has water storage capacity of only 22 to 25 days.While this capacity in other countries is quite more than this. In Indiaand America, it is of 130 and 900 days respectively. Facts and figuresreveal that functionality of Pakistani irrigation system is only 36 percent, which is also a cause of wastage of water. Owing to it, around 62 percent water is wasted.
*Irrigable land in Pakistan is 72.7 million acre. From it, 52.4 millionacre land is being irrigated from rains, while owing to water scarcity 20.3million acre of it cannot be irrigated.*——————————
In this regard, the land of different provinces which is away fromirrigation is Punjab 3.9 million acres, Sindh 3.5 million acres,Balochistan 9.8 million acres, and KP 3.1 million acres. For increasing thecapability of water reservation, new dams are being constructed in China,America, Iran, Turkey, and India, but not even a single dam has beenconstructed in Pakistan since previous 39 years.
——————————
Keeping in view the significance of water reservoirs, respected ChiefJustice of Pakistan has established a special fund for the construction ofDiamer Basha Dam. It is hoped that this act will prove to be productiveregarding raising awareness and sense of ownership concerning water and itsstorage.