ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal accused India on Thursday of causing water and air pollution and reduced river flows in Pakistan.
Addressing participants of a seminar on the ‘National Water Day’, the minister said internal and external water threats needed to be addressed urgently.
He said that domestic factors were also responsible for up to 1,186 million acre feet (MAF) of water having gone into the sea unutilised in 35 years, causing a loss of $174 billion to the national exchequer.
In what appeared to be the first official admission about Pakistan losing water to its neighbour, Mr Iqbal said the country gave away 33MAF of water from its three eastern rivers to India under the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty. This greatly affected the per capita availability of water.
“Since then there has been gradual decline in the trans-boundary flows into Pakistan. The magnitude (of the decline) is alarming,” he remarked.
The flows in the eastern rivers declined by 10.25MAF, “which is a serious issue and needs to be properly investigated”.
The reduction in flows, he said, coupled with growth in population had reduced water availability in Pakistan to 964 cubic metres per person per year which was critically less than the threshold of water scarcity.
This would hamper health and wellbeing of the people and severely affect economic development, Mr Iqbal said.
The minister also warned of possible diversion of water by the Afghan government. “We need to remain alert about development activities of the Afghan government on Kabul River,” he said.
The minister called for establishment of a national water council for inter-provincial and inter-ministerial coordination on key issues. He said the government needed to rise to the occasion and to take corrective measures to avoid a crisis-like situation.
“Our failure to formulate and implement an effective energy policy in the last decade triggered an energy crisis, which, along with causing suffering to the people, is threatening our food security, economy and development. If we fail to formulate and implement an effective water management policy, it will lead to a disaster.”