Sargodha: “India cannot create a supply problem of water due to its geographical reasons as India does not have enough storage facility and cannot take the water out or divert from Kashmir. So, the water of the three rivers (Indus, Jhelum and Chenab) will remain in their basin” said Dr Danish Mustafa, professor at Geography Department King’s College London.
Addressing the webinar, he stressed on paying more attention to social and environmental aspects of water management as mismanagement of water has created scarcity. “Improving water use efficiency and its efficient delivery could have better results in getting more economic, social and environmental benefits.
The webinar on United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 6, ‘Clean Water and Sanitation’ was organized by the Department of Politics and International Relations Sargodha University under the title “Water Crisis: Why Pakistan is Running Dry.”
The webinar was attended by Dr Danish Mustafa Professor Department of Geography, King’s College London, Dr Shaheen Akhtar Professor Department of International Relations, NDU Islamabad, Dr Rizwan Ullah Kokab Associate professor History and Pak Studies, GCU, Faisalabad. It was moderated by Imran Abbas, assistant professor of the DPIR Sargodha University.
Dr Shaheen Akhtar discussed the challenges of population growth, climate change, urbanization, degradation and demographic changes are the main reasons behind the crisis. She said that issue has also been exacerbated by climate change, poor water management and a lack of political will to deal with the crisis.
Dr Kokab said that “Water scarcity is an international issue and Pakistan is at 8, in most water scarcity countries. Indus Water Treaty was meant to preserve interests of Pakistan but India has taken undue advantage from IWT”. He said that power generation rules are required to ensure the equitable water use and right of every individual to have water access.
Commenting on the issue, Abdul Aijaz said that “Water is an inter-disciplinary object of the study that lies between natural and social distribution .There is need to create mechanism to address the challenge”. He also stressed on accelerating efforts and to take ownership of the partly man-made water crisis in overcoming this challenge by declaring their intention to tackle it.
