Country may run dry by 2025 if water issue is not solved: CJ
islamabad — The construction of water reservoirs was a collective responsibility of the whole nation, not just one department, Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar has said. He said Article 184-C of the Constitution calls upon the judiciary to enforce and protect fundamental rights of people. Justice Nisar expressed these views while addressing the concluding session of the two-day International Symposium titled “Creating Water Secure Pakistan” in Islamabad.
The country can face serious consequences if the water scarcity is not addressed, the chief justice warned. He said Pakistan may run dry by 2025 if the present conditions continued and immediate measures were not taken to solve the problems that contribute to water scarcity.
The chief justice said that water was a natural resource and its conservation and management was incumbent upon us, warning that life would gradually become extinct in the country if more water reservoirs are not built.
To secure the future of Pakistan, there was a dire need for immediate steps to prevent wastage of water and protect water resources through regulatory system.
“Pakistan is a country having rich natural resources, but there is a need to utilise them in order to meet our national requirements,” the chief justice said, adding, “no one will come from abroad to help us overcome our crises but we ourselves have to dedicate our services to the nation.” “The quality of life in this part of the world will deteriorate further... if we fail to conserve it (water) today,” he said, adding that he was not willing to “destroy the country’s future” by sitting idle.
The chief Justice said: “We are the custodian of the donations given by people across the country and from overseas Pakistanis for the construction of dams and I will not allow anyone to waste people’s money donated for the dams.”
The Islamabad Declaration, which was adopted at the symposium, expressed deep concern over the amount of water currently present in Pakistan and pointed out that the per capita availability of surface water has declined from 5,260 cubic metres per year in 1951 to about 1,000 cubic metres in 2016, according to the national water policy.
According to the declaration, investments should be made for enhancing water supply (through dams and reservoirs) and better utilisation of groundwater should be ensured by adopting appropriate technologies (like recycling, desalination and water harvesting). Similarly, consumption of water should be managed through the principles of mutual trust among the provinces.
The International Water Law
No one will come from abroad to help us overcome our crises but we ourselves have to dedicate our services to the nation
Mian Saqib Nisar, Chief Justice of Pakistan
should be taken advantage of by consistently putting forward the country’s perspective before various world forums. Pakistan’s strategy regarding implementation of the Indus Waters Treaty should be revisited to bolster the country’s case.
The document urged the government to introduce water accounting based on modern data collection methods to assess the water availability situation and build trust among the provinces regarding water apportionment.
The paper said that effective salinity and sedimentation management techniques should be adopted to protect the country’s agricultural land and the storage capacity of dams and reservoirs, said the declaration. —