Policy to tackle water crisis approved

NEW CHARTER OUTLINES PLANS TO DEVELOP, MONITOR AND MANAGE WATER RESOURCES

In a landmark step to conserve the country’s scarce water resources, Pakistan has approved its first-ever water policy.

The federal and provincial governments unanimously agreed on a National Water Policy (NWP) and inked the document the ‘Pakistan Water Charter’ on Tuesday during the 37th meeting of the Council of Common Interests (CCI) that was held at the Prime Minister’s Office.

With Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi chairing the council, the chief ministers of all four provinces — Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervez Khattak, and Balochistan Chief Minister Abdul Quddus Bizenjo — signed the water charter.

The charter seeks to plan, develop, monitor, coordinate and manage Pakistan’s water resources.

A new groundwater authority will be established in each province to ensure transparency and sustainability, according to the policy.

An information technologybased monitoring system will also be installed at all diversion points from the rivers and reservoirs for access to real-time data.

The policy suggests increasing the development budget for water resources from 3.7 per cent to 10 per cent by 2019, and eventually to 20 per cent by 2030, as well as pricing water at the delivery point, with the supply set to be free of cost.