Water reservoirs should be declared strategic assets: Rauf Alam

Lahore: The Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) on Monday expressed concern over lessening water resources terming it the biggest threat to the country.

Scarcity of water is threatening masses, agriculture and industry across the country but situation in Balochistan is very serious which can effect law and order and the economic corridor project, said Abdul Rauf Alam, President FPCCI.

Balochistan is facing water table depletion with a fast pace which must be noticed lest it take an ugly turn as half of the population of that underdeveloped province depends on agriculture, he added.

Rauf Alam said that scarcity of water has increased cost of agricultural and industrial production which increased extraction of ground water has put additional burden on government in form of subsidies for tube wells.

Now, our agriculture sector is satisfying 40 percent of it water requirement through tube wells which is not sustainable, he noted.

He said that Pakistan needed a dam of size of Turbela every 10 years but it was ignored resulting in costly electricity which compromised ability of export sector.

Climate change is a bigger rick than water aggression and wastage which should get top priority, he said adding that water security should be part of our foreign, internal and economic policies.

We should have an agreed upon water policy, improved water diplomacy and the water reservoirs should be declared strategic assets, new reservoirs should be constructed immediately otherwise our water economy will become weaker by the passage of every day.