PESHAWAR: Experts, at a discussion on the importance of groundwater, called for conserving water and spreading awareness among masses to change behaviour towards water consumption.
The discussion was organised by Water and Sanitation Services Peshawar (WSSP) in collaboration with Islamic Relief (IR), a non-government organization. Among the participants were Member Provincial Assembly Asif Khan, General Manager (ops) WSSP Riaz Ahmad Khan, Country Specialist on Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) IR Shah Faisal and WASH Officer UNICEF Muhammad Shoaib. The discussion was organised on eve of World Water Day, themed “Groundwater, making the invisible visible.”
The panelists stressed on saving water for future generation by using it carefully and in light of teachings of Islam.
They urged the governments for steps to save the available water resources by protecting them from over utilization.
“Water and energy sectors are connected and government should construct dams instead of them throwing water into sea,” MPA Asif Khan said. Had dams been constructed by the previous governments, water coming from melting glaciers would not have been wasted, he added.
He said that masses were not taking care of water being extracted from the ground due to which ground water table was depleting with each passing day. He also informed that water commission would soon be established while Peshawar would be given water from different dams.
Speaking on the occasion, Riaz Ahmad Khan said access to clean drinking water is a basic right and WSSP regularly tests water at its laboratory to ensure supply of clean water for drinking.
Lamenting the use of drinking water for washing houses, cars and streets, he said the company’s awareness teams were holding awareness workshops throughout the city to discourage the culture and change behaviours.
“Over 2.2 billion people don’t have access to clean drinking water around the world,” said Muhammad Shoaib. He said that Pakistan was also facing water scarcity and federal and provincial governments have to focus on saving its water resources. “We should focus on ways to keep recharging groundwater resources, make special lessons on importance of water part of syllabus at all levels and create awareness among masses in this regard,” he said.
IR’s Faisal said setting up of a water authority was the need of the hour to tackle challenges in the water sector and take steps to contain contamination of water resources. “Pakistan ranked 5th in the world facing water shortage with its glaciers melting fast while its 99 percent of population is dependent on groundwater,” he said.
Citing a report, he warned that 2.2 million people could migrate due to drought till 2050 if steps were not taken to save water.