Pakistan’s Sindh region has witnessed severe water shortages in the past few months. ANI, last month, reported that barrages (dams) in the region had suffered a shortage of 61 %. According to water statistics provided by the in-charge of the Sukkur Barrage Control Room and cited by ARY News, the water at Tarbela Dam and Taunsa Barrage upstream of Guddu has remained at the dead level. There was a 61% water shortfall in the Indus at Sindh’s three barrages, including the Guddu and Sukkur barrages in upper Sindh and the Kotri Barrage below. Sindh’s water deficit has also become a major problem. The provinces of Punjab had water shortages of up to 75%. The Taunsa Barrage has only supplied 6,700 cusecs, according to information provided by the state irrigation department of Punjab.
It was 73% less than the necessary 25,000 cusecs. Additionally, there was a 75% water shortage in the Thal Canal because only 2,000 cusecs of water were released into it when 8,000 cusecs were required. Tensions between Sindh and Punjab in Pakistan over their share of the country’s water resources have been triggered by an acute water shortage and a blazing heatwave.
Sindh and Punjab fight for water
Local media claimed that the political party Jiye Sindh Quami Mahaz (JSQM) of Pakistan held protest rallies in several areas of Sindh to voice their opposition to the province’s water deficit. During the rally, the leaders claimed that Punjab was planning to suffocate the Indus. They also lamented the fact that Punjab has never distributed water under the terms of the water treaty from 1991.
The protesters also said that while the elites connected to the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) in Sindh continue to receive water, others who lack political clout and influence suffer as a result of the lack of water. Demonstrators asked that the Sindh water crisis be resolved right now by releasing water there. On Thursday, the Punjab province met its needs for 1,27,800 cusecs of water by supplying 53,100 cusecs instead.
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Upstream of Guddu, at Tarbela Dam and Taunsa Barrage, the water has remained at a dead level. The water statistics show that 89,400 cusecs of Indus water have entered Tarbela while 88,600 cusecs have left the dam.
At Kalabagh, the water inflow was 79,387 cusecs, while the discharge was 76,387 cusecs. According to river water data, there has been an inflow of 81,814 cusecs into the Indus river at Taunsa Barrage and an outflow of 74,422 cusecs. Guddu Barrage’s water input was measured at 55,628 cusecs, while its water outflow was measured at 46,266 cusecs.
The Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE) recently released a report titled “Water Crisis in Pakistan: Manifestation, Causes and the Way Forward” which provides startling figures and puts some light on the seriousness of the problem. Pakistan is ranked 14th out of 17 countries with a “very high water risk” due to its wasteful use of the limited water. More than 80% of the people in the nation experience “serious water scarcity.” In Pakistan, the amount of water per person has drastically decreased, from 5,229 cubic metres in 1962 to barely 1,187 in 2017.
The water withdrawal rate, which can be defined as the amount of water extracted from a source, is one sign showing the severity of the problem (surface or groundwater). It is not the same as water consumption which is the amount of extracted water that was permanently lost during eating (evaporated, used by plants or humans, etc.). Regarding the ratio of water withdrawals to available water resources, Pakistan is placed 160th, better than only 18 other nations. Additionally, the nation treats barely 1% of wastewater, which is among the lowest percentages in the world. In Pakistan, spillage, seepage, side leakage, bank cutting, and improper bank alignment result in the loss of almost 40% of the country’s water supply.
Agriculture is the largest consumer of water, that is 97 per cent of Pakistan’s freshwater is used by the sector. The water crisis is putting the largest sector of the country’s economy at risk. Besides water deficiency and drought, there are other issues like water-logging and salinity affecting Pakistan’s crops, which are responsible for 60 per cent of the agriculture sector’s contribution to GDP. An estimated shortage of around 70 million tons of food is expected by 2025.
