By: ZULFIQAR ALI
The FACTS FINDER (December 2012)
(Human Rights Group of Pakistan's Investigative Reporting Magazine)
Pakistan is currently facing a growing water crisis. Almost 50 per cent of Pakistanis lacked access to clean drinking water. According to estimates, water, sanitation and hygiene-related diseases cost Pakistan's economy about Rs 112 bn per year in terms to health cost and lost earnings, which could be avoided. According to \XAX F Pakistan, the water supply could drop to as little as TOO cubic meters per capital by 2025. The current demand has overwhelmed the supply for a number of reasons, including the absence of water-saving technology and wasteful agricultural techniques. Furthermore, there is lite awareness about the importance of water conservation.
Lack of access to clean and safe drinking water causes million to people's death every year, as nearly 1.2 million people die each year due to water-borne diseases. Among st these, 250,000 children are under the age of
Five who succumb to diarrhoea, mainly caused by the use of untreated water. The water-borne illnesses account for nearly 60 percent child deaths in Pakistan with approximately 630 children dying daily from diarrhoea. On July 28, 2010 - Safe and clean drinking water and sanitation was declared a human right essential to the full enjoyment of life and all other human rights by the United Nations' General Assembly. Declaring the safe and clean drinking water as human right, the US had called on United Nations Member States and international organizations to offer funding, technology and other resources to help poorer countries scale up their efforts to provide clean, accessible and affordable drinking water and sanitation for everyone.
Realizing the importance of state and clean drinking water, the incumbent democratic government under the visionary leadership of
President Asif Ali Zardari has accorded great importance and priority to the issue. The government has taken a number of crucial steps to ensure access to clean and safe drinking water by the people of the country especially the residents of the areas having no or little access to safe and clean potable waters. The PPP-led federal and provincial governments on the special directives of President Asif Ali Zardair allocated and diverted a major chunk of resources and funds to the water sector to ensure provision of safe and clean drinking water to the people of the country.
In rural Sindh, poor drinking water quality, lack of access to clean drinking water and sanitation are the major culprits in causing diarrhoea, a major killer of children under five. Diseases caused by unsafe drinking water and sanitation accounts for roughly over half of all hospitalizations in the rural
Sindh. There are many studies which suggest that access to safe sanitation reduces child diarrhoea by 30 per cent and significantly increase school attendance as well. Therefore, the provincial government of Sindh on the instruction of President Zardari is taking a number of initiatives to ensure provision of safe drinking water in the province especially in rural areas.
The government has taken initiative to have a permanent solution of purified water in desert /arid and coastal belt areas by using most modern technologies in order to establish source to purified water on regular basis and protect people from potentially harmful water borne diseases and tern them chance to earn
More by having improved social-economic conditions.
In district Tharparkar & Umarkot, the government has initiated as many as 83 Urban and Rural Schemes (with daily production capacities of approx. 22 million liters per day) based on RO technology as an alternate and self-reliance source as canal water is not available in region social-economic conditions
At tail end of canal where water is not available on regular basis and on coastal belt where fishermen are living and neeel purified water for their families and for washing fishes with clean water as per set standards, the government has initiated 35 rural water
Schemes for the villages located at the tail end of canal or at costal belt areas where drinking water shortage was acute and upon having these schemes maximum population living in the vicinity will get purified water on regular basis.
The Sindh Coal & Energy Department through Sindh Coal Authority has also executed 25 schemes and Fishery and Livestock Department 10 schemes for better facilities to the fishermen to improve their health and socio-economic conditions.
Drinking water is being provided every day from the existing water schemes to the people and during
Flood/rainy season these plants have-been operational and clean drinking water is being provided to the people.
The provincial government has also initiated fast tract scheme through its Public Health Engineering Department and has established 40 water schemes based on Reverse Osmosis Water Desalination Plants in 30 days record time in 12 flood affected districts (Thatta, Baclin, Tancio Allah Yar, Mirpurkhas, Sanghar, Omarkot, Shaheed Benzirabad, Noshero Peroz, Khairpur, Sukkur, Larkana, Shahdadkot, Dadu (Khairpur Nathan Shah and Johi). to continue-supply of 16 million liters pruritic water every day bv treating surface/ground water as voter schemes were submerged in flood water and mixed with contamination. As the main work was damaged by the disastrous flood of 2010 and 2011, the people are taking drinking water from these schemes. The plants, which have design life of 25 years, have been installed in these areas on permanent basis and providing water every day and will be the Solution of purified water in case of any disaster flood/rain)
The government has also initiated projects for improvement of urban water schemes and installation of most modern filtration plants in each and every city/town in order to avoid water borne diseases as maximum hospital occupancy is due to water borne diseases. The Largest Ultra Filtration Plant in Pakistan has been completed by Public Health Engineering Department in Sindh Province which is operational. The project capacity is 14 million imperial gallons per day and the project has been completed within 6 months record time. The UF technology has tendency to remove-bacteria and virus without using any chemical during filtration process and upon installation ot similar UF plants in other cities there will be substantial reduction in water borne diseases.
The government has initiated projects for improvement in irrigation water management by using Renewable Energy to sustain.
Eco-friendly environment and use-more land for cultivation by removing salinity and give clear chance to the people to grow more crops.
The Sindh Government has also planned to provide safe drinking water facilities at each village having population up to 1000 in the province under the project of Drinking Water Hub Phase-II, while work on installation water filtration plants eco-friendly environment and use more land for cultivation by removing salinity and give clear chance to the people to grow more crops.
The Sindh Government has also planned to provide safe drinking water facilities at each village having population up to 1000 in the province under the project of Drinking Water Hub Phase-II, while work on installation water filtration plants planned under Phase-I has been intensified.
These projects would not only reduce medical bill of individuals and organizations but also to minimize the water-related miseries of people at far flung areas.
In the first phase of the project, a total 225 water filtration plants are being established in 9 districts of Hyderabad Division having at the ratio of 25 filtration plants in each district. Out of the 225 filtration plants planned in Hyderabad Division, the payment against the 127 demand notes issued by HESCO has been made while 23 filtration plants have been energized till yet.
The concerned authorities have issued instructions to the concerned district administration to submit the list of villages having population up to 1000 and above in their areas to the Secretary Special Initiative Department, Government of Sindh under the intimation to Special Secretary to Chief Minister Sindh so that the implementation on this project Drinking Water Hub Phase-II could be started.
Besides these, the provincial government has taken and also taking measures to protect Manchhar Lake from external contamination in order to maintain lake as a water reservoir and restore fisheries activities. Apart from it, the government is executing Rural Water development projects for villages by establishing 500 Water Hubs in order to provide potable drinking water on regular basis to maximum population living in large number of villages in Sindh.
Apart from rural Sindh, President Asif Zardari also took many initiatives to ensure supply of clean drinking water in the urban centres of the province. To provide clean drinking water to the people of the province, the PPP-led government allocated a sum of Rs8.5 billion in its annual budget for the financial year of 2012-13.Under its special initiatives programmed, the government has provided Rsl 1.58 billion for provision of clean drinking water through drinking water hubs, reverse osmosis plants, ultra filtration plants and desalination plants in various parts of the province. Rs8.5 billion had been allocated to establish drinking water hubs.
The government has also allocated fund for the Greater Karachi Bulk Water Supply Scheme, K-IV, which will cost Rs29.83 billion, for solving water shortage issue in the financial hub of the country.
