21m people have no access to clean water

Experts urge for conservation and efficient management to deal with water scarcity in country

Pakistan is one of the top 10 countries with the lowest access to clean water, according to a latest study. The study entitled The Water Gap — The State of the World’s Water 2018, by WaterAid, was released yesterday to mark World Water Day.

According to the report, some 844 million people globally are struggling to access life’s most essential requirement and at least 60 per cent of the people live in water stress areas.

Pakistan ranks number 9 in the list of top 10 countries with lowest access to clean water where 21 million out of the total population of 207 million, do not have access to clean water. India, Ethiopia and Nigeria are the top three countries without safe water. “Pakistan is facing severe challenges; industrialisation and the demands of agriculture, depleted and increasingly saline groundwater, rapid urbanisation and drought have all taken their toll.”

The report suggests that 98 per cent of the richest people have access to clean water close to home as compared to 79.2 per cent for the poor.

Pakistan, is also, however, one of the most-improved nations for reaching more people with safe water by numbers since 2000, the report revealed. “Pakistan has reached water to 44 million people since 2000.”

Commenting on the report, Dr Pervaiz Amir, Director of Pakistan Water Partnership, said that the report sounds a “bit exaggerated.” Talking to Gulf News, Dr Amir explained that, “There are two major issues of water availability and quality. Pakistan is mainly facing the problem of poor quality of water, such as high levels of arsenic in Pakistan’s groundwater.”

Dr Mohammad Ashraf, Chairman of Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR) told Gulf News that, “Only 39 per cent of Pakistanis have access to safe drinking water in a country.”