FAISALABAD – Government College University Faisalabad Vice Chancellor Professor Doctor Zakir Hussain has said that Sindh Taas Water Treaety between Pakistan and India has deprived Pakistan of three main rivers while by constructing dams on remaining two rivers, India has laid down a plan to turn Pakistan into a barren territory.
He was addressing as a chief guest at the closing ceremony of a 10-day training workshop on Farm Water Management organised by Water Management Research Centre at University of Agriculture Faisalabad under the patronage of United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and United Nation’s Organisation for Food and Agriculture.
He said that Pakistan had 140 acre feet river water available for agriculture irrigation but it could use only 30 acre feet that was thought provoking for agriculture scientists and irrigation experts. He added that by controlling the flow of Indus and Chenab rivers, India had created severe problems for the farmers of central Punjab and the intensity of the water shortage was likely to aggravate in the coming few years.
He said that the situation had become more serious because the quality of underground water in central Punjab was not suitable for agriculture use. He held Independent Power Producers (IPPs) responsible for politicising the construction of new dams just to sell their manifold expensive electricity instead of cheap thermal power from the supposed new dams.
The people should follow the example of Egypt for water conservation, management and planning, he said adding that the people in Egypt came out of their houses and practically participated in the construction of water reservoirs and completed a dam within the shortest possible time frame in the world.
He added that Pakistan must officially draw out a ‘water budget’ on annual basis to distribute water in the country in a just way and for this purpose, he proposed to set up an independent water body. Water Management and Research Centre Director Professor Doctor Roy Niaz Ahmed said that 69 percent of the total water flow was used for agriculture, 23 percent for industries while eight percent was being utilised for domestic use.
He added, in 1951, Pakistan had a population of 34 million people and each Pakistani had a share of 5,260 cubic meters but today, for 167 million population, the share of each Pakistani had decreased to 1,066 cubic meters.
He appreciated the USABBA programme launched in coordination with US government for the development of agriculture in Balochistan and said that the programme would promote inter-provincial harmony and enhance the efficiency of farmers as well as scientists of Balochistan.
