Lots of people have written about the doomsday scenario which awaits us according to the Mayan calendar in 2012. I couldn't help but think that whether the world reaches its doomsday in 2012 or not, Pakistan probably will because of acute water shortage. The statistics are staggering. The per capita availability of water has already come down to 1200 cubic meters (one of the lowest in the world) from 5000 cubic meters at the time of independence. And before we reach our end because of the water famine, which would be severe enough to kill every Pakistani of hunger, we seriously need to start conserving water.
Due to climate change, increased heat and lesser rain, the water level of our rivers and lakes has become pretty low. The average global temperature has increased by 0.5degrees centigrade in the past 100years and the annual rainfall in the Potohar region alone has decreased from 1702.9mm to 1691.3mm i.e 15-20%.
There are only 3main reservoirs (Tarbela, Mangla and Chasma), which are storing our water, but they too have become filled with silt thereby reducing the efficiency by more than half. It is high time that we realize how important water is going to be in the next few years.
The future of water is the future of mankind, which calls for establishing sustainable ecological policies, developing and implementing new technologies and harnessing available expertise. An often quoted fact is that “water is one resource that cannot be generated, it can only be preserved.” therefore we should start saving every drop of water or be prepared to face wars, famine and the end of our nation.
Save water to save yourself!
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