Pakistan is the third largest country in the world extracting underground water: Senator Shahadat Awan

ISLAMABAD, August 05 (SABAH): The Senate Standing Committee on Water Resources, chaired by Senator Shahadat Awan, convened on Monday at the Parliament House. The meeting began with introductory remarks by the Chairman Committee. He stated that Pakistan is the third largest country in the world extracting underground water. He also added that we as nation extract 9 percent of the total groundwater of the world, consequently making the ratio of recharge of ground water much lesser than its extraction. On the other hand, one third of natural water of Pakistan is wasted in the sea. 

The briefing from the Ministry began with the presentation by Dr. Hifza Rasheed, the DG PCRWR, on groundwater depletion in Pakistan and the related initiatives aimed at mitigating this issue. Beginning with the Province of Punjab, it was reported that the depth to the water table ranges from 5 to 140 feet. However, the Secretary of the Ministry of Water Resources interrupted and contested these figures, prompting the Chairman Awan to express his astonishment and annoyance. He questioned how the committee could proceed with inaccurate data if the ministry itself acknowledged the discrepancies therein.

The Chairman Committee highlighted that even the data concerning the capital city was flawed, while raising concerns about the accuracy of information for Punjab and Sindh provinces.

The Secretary of the Ministry of water Resources attributed the inaccuracies to malfunctioning of piezometers and misreporting by the WASA. Senator Muhammad Humayun Mohmand enquired about the responsibility of the installation and maintenance of piezometers, to which it was clarified that this duty falls under the ambit of Irrigation Departments of concerned provinces.

The Secretary further stated that the accurate data could not be provided until sufficient piezometers are placed/installed. Upon that, the Chairman Committee pointed out that the briefing had already included data from the reliable sources such as the PCRWR, Punjab Irrigation Department, and Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.

 The Chairman Committee lamented the inaccurate data presented by the Ministry before the Committee. With this the meeting was adjourned with a directive to the Ministry to conduct an internal review with all relevant departments responsible for data collection on this critical issue before re-presentation of the same before the Committee in its next meeting.

The meeting was attended by Senator Mohammad Humayun Mohmand, Senator Poonjo Bheel and other senior officials of concerned departments.