Daily Times

Pakistan has witnessed a 400% decrease in its water capita ratio from 5600 cubic meter per capita in 1947 to 1038 cubic meter per capita in recent years, and this is a matter of serious concern.

This was revealed by Parliamentary Secretary of Ministry of National Health Services Regulation and Coordination Dr Nausheen while addressing a webinar by Bayer Pakistan titled “Water on the roll: Improving access to water in Pakistan” to mark their H2O water wheel project.

H2O water wheels are specially designed 40-litre drum containers with handles which enable people to roll water from its source rather than carry it on their heads the traditional way; in terracotta pots. The project will benefit approximately 14,000 people directly in rural areas of Sindh and Punjab.

Dr. Nausheen said that Pakistan is the 5th most populous country in the world and water scarcity is a very serious threat which will be aggravated by 2025, leaving very limited water for use.

“The inadequate supply of water further aggravates the situation of food and security affecting the lives and livelihood of the poor and deprived communities in Pakistan.

Besides, she added, quality of water is another issue and Pakistan is among top 10 countries with the greatest number of people living without access to safe water.

“Contaminated water is the main reason why Pakistan has still not been able to eradicate polio from the country while infant mortality because of diarrhea (whose source is contaminated water) is also a very big issue in Pakistan,” said Dr Nausheen.

She said that we would study this model of water wheels project as it is a unique solution to provide access to clean water to women and under-served communities.

Federal Minister for Climate Change/ Special Assistant to the Prime Minister Malik Amin Aslam said climate change is a reality in Pakistan. On a policy level, we are focused on nature-based solutions (like tree plantation) to climate changes.

“Pakistan is certainly a water scarce country but Pakistan is not a country without water,” said the Minister while adding that we are now trying to restore our wetlands and store the water that gets wasted through our macro level project “Recharge Pakistan” that is aimed at Pakistan’s water security through cost-effective ecosystem-based adaptation.

CEO and MD Bayer Pakistan Imran Ahmad Khan said that being a life science company Bayer is carrying out targeted interventions to help underserved communities across Pakistan.

“Our aim is to make their livelihood better through easy access to water that is used for different purposes like hygiene, sanitation, farming etc.,” said Imran.

He added that recently they have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Tayyaba Organization to address water access and its transportation challenges in rural areas by distributing 2000 water wheels (which means 14000 households) to water-scarce communities in Sindh and Punjab.

Bilal bin Saqib of Tayaba Organization said that women pay the highest price when it comes to the water crisis in Pakistan so this idea of access to water through water wheels is about helping these affected women.

Malik Amin appreciated Bayer Pakistan and Tayaba Organization’s project to provide access to water to affected communities.

“This is a small intervention but very meaningful and these initiatives are very important. The government is always there to help this kind of project,” said Amin.

It is pertinent to mention here that Pakistan is the third most water-stressed country according to the IMF and People’s lives are deeply affected by water scarcity and poor infrastructure of water distribution.