A parliamentary body on Thursday expressed reservations over poor mechanism in the water sector since many years in the country, saying that even the water ministry has no available statistical information with it on the groundwater data. The committee wondered that almost half of the water in the country comes from Gilgit Baltistan but the authorities conducted no survey so far in this regard.
The meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Water Resources held under the Chairmanship of Senator Musadik Masood Malik expressed concerns on the negligence of the minister. The chairman said that after the 18th constitutional amendment, the water sector was devolved to the provinces. However, he assured, the federal government is available to fully support the solutions of the hurdles coming in the way of development within its constitutional Parameters.
The chairman committee raised a question on the strength of human resource of the water department. The officials of the water ministry informed the committee that there are 108 staff members working in the water development sector. The chairman also inquired about the total sanctioned budget of the water department of Gilgit Baltistan.
To which, the officials informed that the project has been sanctioned a total of Rs 4 billion out of which, they claimed, Rs 280 million have been allocated for the Water sector.
The Chairman committee dismayed that even after such a budget the water sector is running without any concrete data in hand.
Similarly, the provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh were unable to provide ground water data on which the chairman committee showed great displeasure.
Senator Taj Haider ensured the data collection task within 2 weeks from the province of Sindh. The chairman committee said that the Ministry is sending letters for an update but the matter is pending for the last 3 months. The committee unanimously noted that the future of Pakistan in terms of water resources is questionable and steps need to be taken to solve it to provide quantity and quality of water as per the country’s resources to the respective provinces
The officials of the Ministry of Water Resources informed the committee that no groundwater regulatory framework is present in Pakistan. “Everyone anywhere through any system has the liberty to obtain groundwater without any licensing laws or monitoring” The officials informed the committee that they primarily depend on the driller and that they also have capacity issues as well as issues pertaining to data in order to meet the problem of groundwater.
Senator Sardar Shafiq raised a question on the performance of PCRWR and enquired about their performance in researching water resources in the country. While talking about Burj Aziz Khan Dam and Mangi Dam, Senator Sardar Shafiq Tareen commented that it is feared that Mangi Dam would provide water only to Quetta Cantt and Burj Aziz Khan would facilitate DHA, if this happens how would the residents of Quetta be provided water? Senator Sardar Shafiq said that the committee must play its active role to solve the problems of water resources in Balochistan.
Senator Dr Muhammad Hamayun Mohmand also inquired about the preservation of rainwater. The officials informed that the flowing water goes in the system but is lost in terms of its utilization. The officials said that the water resources need to be exploited and explored. The legal framework is required and water policies need to be approved. The Water Act which was approved by Punjab and then KP should also be adopted by other provinces. The committee was informed that a five-meter per year depletion has taken place in Quetta.
The committee was disappointed to know why it took 5 years for this depletion to continue and no action has been taken so far for water depletion. The chairman committee put forward a plan of action and time frame to streamline the concerns regarding the solution of the water sector. The chairman committee also put forward the recommendation to have a meeting with the NGO’s of different provinces on waterlogging and water depletion. The chairman committee also sought a report by the Sindh Government on GW depletion within 2 weeks.
