March 22, 2006
Government is working
expeditiously to provide safe drinking water to all citizens. 6,300
filtration plants will be installed within each union council with the
amount of Rs.10 billion under Prime Minister’s Khushall Pakistan Programme.
Pakistan has tremendous resources of water reservoirs but due to lack of
capacity of storage it is wasted. Draft national drinking water policy and
draft sanitation policies are the part of the initiatives taken by the
government in this regard, stated by Mr. Malik Amin Aslam Khan, State
Minister for Environment, who was the chief guest of the seminar on “State
of Drinking Water in Pakistan” organized by Consumer Rights Commission of
Pakistan (CRCP) in connection with the World Water Day.
Mr. Amin Aslam further added that Pakistan is paying a heavy cost due to
diseases caused by unsafe drinking water. According the World Bank report,
Rs. 40 billion is being spent every year due to diseases caused by
contaminated water. He sought the participation of all citizens in the
Khushaal Pakistan Programme to make it successful.
Mian Abrar Hafeez, Secretary General CRCP, in his welcome note, highlighted
the importance of the theme of the day which was “Water and Culture”. He
told that water is sacred in every culture and we use it in various ways and
its importance for human existence can not be overlooked.
Dr. Rozina Tufail, Federal Parliamentary Secretary, while chairing the
seminar, stated that Government of Pakistan is aware of the fact that only
60 percent of population has access to safe drinking water, therefore the
provision of safe drinking water to all citizens is a huge challenge.
Looking at the importance of the issue, we are taking every possible step to
tackle it. Water is one of the four key areas on which the government is
focusing on, she added.
Mr. Mazhar Siraj, Research Fellow CRCP, pointed out major issues in
provision of safe drinking water. He said that at the current rate, by the
year 2025, there will by only 800 cubic meter per capita water available as
compare to 5300 cubic meter in 1951. The water availability is alarmingly
inequitable. He revealed some important figures about the losses caused by
lack of safe drinking water in Pakistan. In Rawalpindi, 19 million gallons
of water is used by only 15 percent of population provided from the Khanpur
water reservoir. In Pakistan every 5th child under the age of five is
suffering from water born diseases, and 40 percent mortality and 20-40
percent hospital admission are caused by water born diseases.
Dr. Rana Muhammad Safdar, Deputy National Programme Manager, Prime Minster
Programme for Prevention and Control of Hepatitis, National Institute of
Health, analyzed the draft national water policy. He stated that 100 percent
water resources of 10 major cities are contaminated and unfit for human
consumption. Water table is decreasing at the rate of 10 feet every year. He
stated that the draft policy recognizes that provision of safe drinking
water is a basic human right and it is the responsibility of the state to
provide safe drinking water to every citizen. He suggested that the policy
can be further improved through supervision of complaint cells, to be
established under the policy, by citizen committees, making development of
technical guidelines a responsibility of federal government, and to ensure
uniform standards of water devising criteria for instituting performance
grant.
Dr. Zia-ul-Islam, Director Pakistan Environment Protection Agency spoke
about the issues in implementation of National Environment Quality
Standards. He said that on March 8, 2006 Self-Monitoring and Reporting Tool
(SMART) has been launched and industry has shown full support and commitment
to provide information regarding effluents.
Mr. Ahmad Aziz Tarar, Tehsil Municipal Officer, spoke about water and
sanitation under Local Government Ordinance 2001. He said that local
government is taking its root and the responsibility of provision of safe
drinking water is overlapping among the enforcing agencies. He said that
capacity building of the CCBs (Citizens Community Boards) and other local
institutions will help provide a better opportunity for provision of safe
drinking water.