Tuesday, 19 April 2011
Tuesday, 22 March 2011
WATER CRISIS IN PAKISTAN
WATER CRISIS IN PAKISTAN
BY Nadeem Tariq
The most dreaded water scarcity event has at last hit Pakistan. This is nothing unexpected. The manner in which we have been used to handle our resources and national affairs, this catastrophic occurrence was bound to take us over. Nature’s endowment of water blessings upon Pakistan has always been envied by the world at large. At the time of independence 5000 cu/m of water was available for each Pakistani, which has now reduced to 1000 cu/m because of uncontrolled population growth.
Water is one resource that can not be generated it can only be preserved. Farsighted nations try to conserve each every drop of water available to them because they are aware of the fact that if this commodity is not prudently preserved and used, the human survival itself would be jeopardized and future wars would be fought for its possession and control. The only manner to conserve this resource known to man so far is to construct dams. Dams have been built for atleast 5000 years and, their functions have evolved with the developing needs of the society. Most likely, the earliest dams were built to store water for domestic and agriculture water supply. With the onset of industrial era, hydropower became a major reason to built dams. Presently dams are built to serve many other functions, such as, flood control, navigation, and recreation. According to an estimate the present volume of all storage reservoirs with gross capacity of 5 cu/km and above amounts to some 4900 cu/km. Out of this about 975 cu/km lie in North America while about 1770 cu/km are in Asia with majority in China. China has some 83000 reservoirs built for various purposes, of which 330 are major in size. While in Pakistan we have two major and about a dozen smaller reservoirs.
It has been said that all reservoirs are doomed to die. This is due to loss of their storage capacity because of sedimentation. Assuming a hundred year average life of reservoirs (Lake Mead, USA-350 years + Tarbela, Pakistan-40 years), the world is losing about 41 cu/km of storage capacity per year. Although we can not halt their termination yet, with our knowledge and effort we can delay this process and elongate their life. So far few methods are available for prolonging the storage and life of reservoirs. Among these the most frugal and resource preservation method is construction of series of dams on the river so as to trap the sediment inflows in the upstream reservoirs and store comparatively sediment free water in the lower reservoirs. It was estimated that Kalabagh reservoir life with Tarbela upstream and a conjunctive operation could be extended to 100+ years. The other operational methods include sediment sluicing alongwith water flows through the dam outlets and flushing of accumulated sediment through reservoir regulation methods; though these method involve trade off between stored water and reservoir capacity because stored water shall have to be passed through the dam unobstructed. Another method available is desiltation through dredging. This method is so expensive that construction of a new storage would cost about one twentieth of the cost of a similar reservoir.
Let us now recapitulate and make an assessment of ourselves to find out how and why we have suddenly become a water scarcity country from a water affluent country. Soon after the creation of Pakistan the country was faced with a number of serious problems including that of electricity and water shortage. The control of three out of five Punjab rivers had gone to India, which stopped the water supply to our canals feeding the eastern districts of theUnited Punjab and the Bhawalpur State.The unilateral action of the Indian Government ruined our cultivated land which was soon rendered dry and started becoming salinated. This affected the economy of the newly created country very badly and the danger of famine thus loomed over the nation. Pakistan therefore, had to mobilize her own resources. The search for alternate arrangements to sustain our mainly agrarian economy started. The construction of small dams on our rivers like Warsak on Kabul and Rohtas on Jhelum were taken up with the aid of Commonwealth countries. In addition, for gross utilization of the available water resources in the country, the Govt. of Pakistan set up an organization under the title “Dams Investigation Circle”(DIC) which was entrusted with the task of carrying out comprehensive survey for collecting the data and preparing the projects which may help in resolving the problems of water and energy shortage. By the end of May 1996, the DIC prepared a number of projects, which included Dams at Kalabagh on Indus River and Rohtas (later called Mangla) on Jhelum river.
Investigations for construction of a huge multipurpose dam on Indus River at Kalabagh were started in 1953 and its feasibility was submitted to the Govt. after getting approved by a group of expert foreign Consultants. The Govt. approved this in 1959, the year WAPDA came in to being. In 1960 a treaty between Pakistan and India was signed with World Bank mediation widely known as the “Indus Basin Treaty”. According to this treaty, control of waters of Ravi, Bias and Sutlej was given to India with the condition that the Indian Govt. will compensate for the loss of Pakistan and fully participate in the construction of the replacement works with the help of the World Bank and the other aid giving agencies. The replacement works included two large dams one on the Indus and the other on Jhelum, five barrages and eight link canals and a siphon for carrying the waters of Chenab River across the Sutlej River. The then Chief Martial Law Administrator and President Ayub Khan on behalf of the Pakistan Govt. and the Indian Prime Minister Pandit Jwaharlal Nehru on behalf of India signed the treaty; Eugene Blake signed the treaty on behalf of the World Bank. For the two large multipurpose dams on Indus and Jehlum Pakistan proposed sites at Kalabagh and Rohtas (later called Mangla). Kalabagh site choice for Pakistan was obvious since lot of investigation had been carried out at this site and a feasibility report duly prepared and approved by the GOP after check and scrutiny by the foreign experts and consultants.
In the meanwhile a group of shortsighted bureaucrats gathered around Ayub Khan and convinced him to switch over the construction site on Indus River from Kalabagh to Tarbela some 100 miles upstream. Unfortunately, Ayub Khan was neither a political leader nor had the wisdom to understand the implications of the counsel given to him. In fact it was some sort of intrigue weaved very carefully around Ayub Khan by some petty minded bureaucrats who had their own axe to grind rather than serve the national interest. On Ayub Khan’s insistence the design of dam at Tarbela site was prepared in great hurry, which was not based on detailed site investigations and thus had many inherent defects. The team of experts warned the GOP that this project would be a complete failure and the whole investment on this scheme will go down the drain. Incidentally no attention was paid to this warning. Ayub Khan soon came to know that the World Bank would not pay a single penny for this badly designed project of Tarbela Dam. Since, a large dam was part of the treaty, the GOP commenced work on Tarbela Dam out of the funds received for Kalabagh Dam and later approached other countries, who agreed to finance the project on terms and conditions favored to their interests. The reasons for switching over to Tarbela Dam were never made known to the public which ofcource was not in a position of raising any voice against the authority of the Martial Law Government. Kalabagh Dam was therefore thrown into the dustbin and all the resources were diverted towards Tarbela Dam. However, a lollypop was given to the nation stating that since it is intended to built a series of dams on the Indus river, soon after completion of Tarbela all machinery and trained man-power would be diverted towards construction of Kalabagh and later on completion of Kalabagh, these resources would be utilized for construction of dam(s)upstream of Tarbela at suitable sites.
Tarbela’s hurried and faulty design brought Pakistan near total catastrophe in 1974. It was only the Almighty that saved Pakistan from complete devastation. An accidental stuck-up of tunnel gates at Tarbela forced the operating authorities dump the full reservoir and when the reservoir was completely depleted it was found that large sink holes have developed on the immediate upstream of the dam. This is a phenomenon akin to silent heart attack, which results into sudden cardiac arrest without warning. With a newly full reservoir no one could visualize such a happening and one fine morning there would have been no dam resulting into the whole country being under 4-6 feet of water.
The story of Kalabagh does not end here. During Bhutto era need for another storage seriously cropped up and research and studies with the help of both local and foreign consultants were carried out to develop the Kalabagh feasibility studies into full fledge project design. This design was deliberated by top world experts on dam design, reservoir sedimentation and operation. Due care was given to various implications involved and engineering solutions based on sophisticated techniques were chalked out. During Zia regime the World Bank committed some U.S. $7.0 billion and kept this amount earmarked for about three years. Then suddenly an intrigue based on dirty politics sealed the fate of the Kalabagh Dam for all times to come. A powerful General who was Governor of NWFP in order to put pressure on Zia for reasons best known to them, in connivance with some Consultants started marking high flood level marks on the houses, graveyards, mosques and other permanent structures, and set a wave of alarm among the public of fear of their drowning. This disturbance among the people was played up so much that a strong resistance started developing among the inhabitants of NWFP against the Dam. Most unfortunately, these high flood level marks were neither based on facts nor had any basis. The dam designers in particular and the engineering community in general based on actual studies proved and showed that even in the worst scenario when both Tarbela and Kalabagh are full and an unprecedented historic flash flood occurs, the high flood level would not reach to a stage so as to cause any damage to the populace. With regard to the fear of waterlogging in the Nowshera valley adequate provision was made for tubewell installations as part of the Kalabagh project. But, the shot had been fired and before the NWFP people fears could be quelled, the Sindh Province came out with an entirely opposite objection to the Kalabagh Dam building i.e. drought and water scarcity. The controversy has reached to an extent that today almost every one in Pakistan has formed opinion either for or against the Kalabagh Dam.
If we look deep into the controversy we would clearly see the mistrust and distrust between the Provinces being an outcome of the suppression caused by autocratic rules and absence of democratic forces needed to freely vent and mitigate the negative forces.
Coming back to the water scarcity problem, we find that absence of additional storages have forced us to burden Tarbela most adversely by inflicting continued low level drawdowns which caused racing of large sediment deposits within the reservoir towards the Dam much before than expected. To retard the movement of sediment towards the Dam it was required to keep the minimum pool level higher so as to keep the delta away from the Dam and maintain the reservoir’s live storage as much as possible. For example, Tarbela minimum pool level initially was fixed at El. 1300 and later with the increase in sediment inflows was to be gradually raised to El. 1400 and if need arises even higher. But, successive dry years forced us to operate the reservoir at lower levels and as a result the toe of the delta has almost reached upto to mouth of the intakes. As such, this year we are forced to stop water releases from the reservoir at El. 1369 and, if we venture to lower it further all silt, sand and debris would pass through the power intakes and damage the turbines to an extent that the power house shall have to be closed for repairs involving heavy amount of foreign exchange.
The Kalabagh controversy started some 15 years back and during this period we did nothing but to concentrate on rhetoric for or against Kalabagh. Although it was known that consensus on construction of a new reservoir above or below Kalabagh will take some time and when it somehow gets finalized then preparation of its feasibility, design and then construction all would involve not less than 15 years. One preference for Kalabagh is that its designs are prepared and even the tender documents are ready.
It is a well-known fact that in the world most lucrative projects were conceived but resisted and washed out by envoirmentalists. That never was construed as end of the day. Planners always have alternate plans ready, which unfortunately we miserably lack. Prudence demanded that during the last 15 years we should have worked on sites other than Kalabagh and reached a level from where the actual construction commences. Not only that, we should have educated ourselves through research and study of Tarbela reservoir sedimentation processes and upgraded our knowledge of the complexity of reservoir sedimentation.
The engineering interest in reservoir sedimentation concerns three physical aspects; (i) overall volume of trapped sediment, (ii) distribution of deposit volume, and (iii) distribution of sediment particle size within the reservoir. The loss of storage capacity due to sediment deposits reduces the efficacy of a reservoir to regulate the flow and to provide a flood control. The distribution of volume of deposit determines the relative impact of trapped sediment on the usable storage, and the distribution of particle size effects the density of deposits as well as the potential damage caused by the ingress of sediment into the power inlets.
A number of approaches have been developed in the world to study these phenomenon. These include empirical methods; mathematical modeling and physical modeling but all these approaches have their limitations and need research and study to evaluate their effectiveness. Tarbela reservoir is one such place where ideal conditions exist to enhance our knowledge in area of sedimentation engineering.
WAPDA was established to develop the water and power resources of the country. It was structured as a multi-disciplinary organization with wide autonomy of working. It was at its Zenith when it most successfully and in record time completed world’s gigantic Indus Basin Project. Although, after the Indus Basin Project no new large construction project with the exception of SCARP was handled by WAPDA yet, it continued its effective and productive role of water development through research and studies. Between 1974 to1987 under its aegis world’s largest ever undertaken prototype research in the mechanics of alluvial channels using the canals and rivers of Pakistan was undertaken with the collaborative sponsorship and funding from the National Science Foundation of USA. The accomplishments under this research endeavor provided worldwide designers of the alluvial channels new approaches based on phenomenon hither to unknown and unobserved. Later, the WAPDA organization entrusted with this research project was elevated into an international sedimentation research institute in order to use its knowledge and expertise to research and study the complex processes of sedimentation, the biggest menace and threat to the water resources whether these are flowing or conserved.
Then a gradual apathy, unconcern and indifference on WAPDA’s part towards its basic objective of development of water and power resources tookover; most probably due to the attitude of its higher-ups who considered WAPDA’s role solely of a revenue collection agency. Unfortunately, those under the top brass were also insensitive towards the sophisticated expertise developed within the organization and therefore did not have the capability of properly guiding or counseling the decision-makers. The net result was that organizations that were built in decades were destroyed and reduced to shambles in months. The star international sedimentation research institute is now dumped into few katcha garages in a remote corner of the city. All its sophisticated equipment has either been reduced to junk or pilfered and all the expertise gained totally lost. This world renowned research institute is now headed by a Sr. Engr. who has been promoted from a mechanical overseer. Similarly, another organization, which was developed from Dams Investigation Circle (mentioned earlier), is under so much fear and harassment that its employees have practically lost all nerve. This organization is also being headed by a mechanical engineer who does not know even basics of dam engineering.
Various periodic inspections of Tarbela Dam by experts recommended different solutions to tackle the sedimentation problems of the reservoir. For testing and researching these solutions it was proposed that immediately a physical model studies laboratory be established at Tarbela site. This laboratory would not only undertake a comprehensive research and study to find solutions to Tarbela problems but also cater for future needs of other projects on the Indus River and its tributaries. In this regard collaborative efforts were made with a prestigious Chinese sedimentation research institute. But, with the departure of those who were instrumental in developing of this collaborative activity with the Chinese, every thing was thrown to airs. The Chinese are constructing a very large dam namely “Three Gorges Project”. This project is not only being researched in a physical-modeling laboratory at the site but at every major engineering university in the country. What a pity? We who claim to have world’s most integrated water resource and conveyance system do not have even one laboratory in the country capable of studying dams, reservoirs or sedimentation problems. On the other hand, as announced by the Chief Executive, we are planning to construct a number of reservoirs and, unfortunately, do not posses the basic infrastructure to study the complexities involved. The one laboratory at Nandipure under the Punjab Irrigation Department is not even sufficient to handle Punjab Irrigation’s own problems and the efficacy and efficiency of this laboratory portrays the same story of apathy.
WAPDA has now come up with its dream of “vision 2025”. With the present level of in-house knowledge and expertise can it even initiate such a utopic program? We talk of constructing projects like Bhasha Dam. Unfortunately, we think of Bhasha probably similar to a plaza. This project is going to be far more problematic than Tarbela (Refer Panel of Experts Report-1988). No local firm (s) is capable of undertaking its investigations without active collaboration of foreign experts/specialists. Had we continued the research and study efforts started way back within WAPDA, we by now would have achieved a level of knowledge whereby our dependency on foreign expertise had been minimal. But, we wasted all opportunities and chances. No we can do nothing but hold Namaz- e- Istasqa.
by Nadeem Tariq
Monday, 28 February 2011
Water Crisis in Pakistan and its remedies
| Water Crisis in Pakistan and its remedies |
SOURCES OF WATER
God has blessed Pakistan with abandoned water resources, with water flowing down the Himalayas and Karakorum heights, from the world’s largest glaciers, a free and unique bounty of nature for this land of alluvial plains. As a result of this natural resource, today we have the world’s marvelous and the largest irrigation system that irrigates over 16 million hectors of land, out of 34 million hectors of cultivable land available. Basically we have two major sources of water i.e. surface water & ground water.SURFACE WATER
In surface water we have three hydrologic units. First one is Indus Basin River.
(a) Indus Basin River
At the time of independence, we had about 67 maf water available for diversion; this amount increased to about 85 maf by 1960. In 1960 Pakistan signed a water treaty “Indus water treaty” with India, which brought major changes in the sources of water for Pakistan. In that treaty the right of three eastern rivers i.e. Beas, Sutlej and Ravi was given to India. Now the Indus river basin constitutes of the mountain basins Indus plain, Karachi plains and desert areas of Sindh. Its principle rivers and tributaries are Indus, Shyok, Gilgit, Astor, Siran, Kabul joined by Jhelum, Chenab and Sutlej. It covers an area of 516,600 sq. km. its source of water are snowing, glacier melting and rainfalls. From this annually 141.67 maf of water is being received.
(b) Closed basin Kharan desert
It consists of areas of mountain basins of Quetta and basins of tributaries draining in to Kharan desert. its main rivers are Pishin Lora, Baddo Rakhshan, Mashkhel and many other streams. It covers an area of 120,100 sq. km. its main sources of water are rainfall and nominal snow. Here we are getting approximately 4.5 maf of water.
(c) Makran coastal basin
Makran coastal basin constitutes of streams of Malir, Hub, Porali, Kud, Hingol, Nai, Mashhai, Dasht, Nihing and Kech. It covers an area of 122,400 sq. km and its main source of water is rainfall. From this basin 0.78 maf of water.
Now coming towards groundwater sources.
Ground water:-
The Indus plains constitute about 34 million hectors (over 85 million acres) of cultivable land. The recharge or absorption to the ground is around 72 maf, out of which about 48 maf is in the command of Indus basin irrigation system (ibis). Ground water is also found in some rain-fed (barani) lands and inter-mountain valleys at depths varying from 100 to 200 feet.
After pointing out the main sources of water, let’s have a glance of the water available to us through them. We receive an average of 141.67 maf of water from western rivers. Eastern rivers contribute 8.47 maf of water. About 4 maf of water is received from outside Indus plains. Water available above rim stations is 5.28 maf whereas rainfalls below rim also contribute about 14 maf of water. Also about 66.89 maf ground water is available to us. In other words a total of 240.22 maf of water is available to us from the present sources.
For controlling the water resources and for its effective utilization lets have a glance at the present storages and its capacities.
Water reservoirs / capacities:-
Pakistan is having three basic reservoirs, namely mangla dam reservoir, Terbela dam reservoir and Chashma barrage reservoir. more small reservoirs like Warsak, Baran dam hub, Khanpur, Tanda, Rawal, Simly, Bakht khan Hamal lake, Mancher lake, Kinjhar lake and Chotiari lake Arealso included as small storage. The storage capacity of these reservoirs is as shown on the view foil.
I shall be discussing only the major reservoirs only.
(a) Terbela dam reservoir
World’s largest earth and rock filled dam was built at Terbela on river Indus in 1976 with a gross capacity of 11.62 maf and a live storage capacity of 9.68 maf. With the passage of time, due to silting, 24.6% of the storage has been lost and now it has a live storage of 7.295 maf.
(b) Mangla dam reservoir
Mangla reservoir is the second major storage of Pakistan. It was built in 1967 on river Jhelum with a gross capacity of 5.882 maf and live storage of 5.41 maf. Again due to siltation it has lost 13.2% of its storage and presently can store 4.636 maf of water.
(c) Chashma barrage reservoir
Chashma barrage is situated on river Indus and was built in 1972 with a gross storage of 0.870 maf and live storage of 0.717 maf. It has also reduced its storage capacity by 39.3% and is left with a storage capacity of 0.435 maf.
UTILIZATION OF WATER
In Pakistan we utilize the water available to us for different purposes. The basic utilization is for irrigation and then used for power generation, drinking and also provided to some Industries.
(a) Irrigation
Out of 240.22 maf, 172.21 maf water is utilized for irrigation purposes as shown on the view foil. In this the canal diversions is 105.23 maf; system loses are 144-40; rainwater is 6.0 maf; ground water is 41.30 and utility above rims is 5.28 maf.
(b) Power generation
Water released by the hydropower plants returns to the river system. The reservoirs are operated on priority bases only for irrigation. Recent increase in thermal generation has reduced the potential conflicts between water releases from reservoirs for hydropower generation and irrigation. Now most of the annual storage is utilized for irrigation and not for hydropower, but conflicts do arise at times.
(c) Drinking
Most of the rural and urban water is supplied from ground water through tube wells and hand pumps except few cities like Karachi and Islamabad/Pindi. Total urban and rural (domestic and commercial) requirements estimated is 10-15% of the surface water, out of which 80% return to the system, however with degraded quality. Net consumption is normally about 2% of the total water available.
(d) Industry
Water is also utilized in Industries basically for cooling purposes and also in manufacturing processes. This utility is less than 1%.
Shortage of water
As we all know that now a days our country is facing severe shortage of water. There are two main reasons, one natural due to prolong drought---which is beyond the control of a man, and the other due to the gross negligence in the development and mis-management of water resources. The average annual inflow of the Indus and its tributaries is i41.67 maf, of which 97% is used in agriculture and the remaining 3% for domestic and Industrial purposes. Out of 141.67 maf, around 106 maf is annually diverted in to one of the largest but in-efficient irrigation system. The remaining 36 maf goes into the sea unused – a total loss --. Out of 106 maf, diverted into an extensive irrigation net work, more than 50% is lost during the changeling and the field application before it reaches the crop root zone.
In the years when the rainfall is normal or above, the country generally does not face any water shortage, where as in below average rainfall period it does. This has happened just few weeks earlier. i was sitting with secretary irsa, in connection of my vision, and he said that they are reducing the quota of punjab and sind by 5% because of no rains and that the level of mangla has gone below dead level. After three days i was again with him and he said that now we are increasing the quota of all the provinces, because we are in happy situation due to present heavy rains and snowfalls. The planners, it is assumed, are responsible to foresee and carry out effective water resources development and management planning to meet the future challenges. However, sadly this is not practiced which ultimately lands the state into such uncalled situations.
Impact on economy / society
As I said earlier that agriculture is our backbone and the water flowing in the channels to the crops is its blood line—and if there is no or less water then we should be prepared for facing problems economically as well as socially. According to the estimates of federal government, the agriculture sector would suffer a loss of about Rs. 90 billion because of drought. Since agriculture has remained a major source of shouldering the already crippled economy, it has a vital role to play particularly in terms of food security and employment of the ever-burgeoning population of the country. It contributes around 35 % to the gnp and employs about 44% of labor force. It also contributes 65% of our export earning. The adverse effects of water shortage on agriculture would have a spiraling effect on the prevailing level of poverty.
(a) Less water means less agricultural yields and to fulfill the food requirements of the nation, we will be dependent on other countries.
(b) Raising livestock is the main source of livelihood of rural areas. it is also an important economic activity, which contributes 9.7% of gdp, will be affected due to shortage of water.
(c) Orchards of pakistan bring home a healthy amount of foreign exchange, which can be affected due water shortage.
(d) Due to less production of main crops, which are wheat, cotton, sugar cane and rice, the Industries related to them will suffer adversely.
(e) Then due to drought and more dependency on ground water for irrigation, the water table will go down, and this will cause water constrains to the population.
(f) Less agricultural outputs will compel people to head towards urban areas for jobs, which will increase the unemployment further.
(g) The distribution of water is controlled from the center by irsa (Indus river system authority) as per 1991 agreement between the provinces. Now the shortage of water will cause disputes between the provinces, which may cause harm to the national integrity.
Analysis
Pakistan is one of the poorest countries of the world, where as on the other hand it is one of the richest in its population increasing capabilities. Our population has surpassed the 140 million mark by now and is still increasing at an alarming rate of about 3%, which definitely needs to be checked. On the other hand the growth rate of agriculture is decreasing due to water shortages. To keep up the pace of agricultural growth comparable to population growth, we must bring additional lands under cultivation. in order to achieve the required growth targets in agriculture, we needed an estimated amount of 149 maf in 2000 and will need 215 maf year 2013 and about 277 maf by year 2025. this scenario warns that pakistan has already has slided from a water happy country to a water scarce country in 1994 and already shortage of over 40 maf persists, which may increase to a shortage of 108 maf and 151 maf by years 2013 and 2025 respectively. This water shortage has been threatening the federal structure of the country. Our reluctance to treat water as an economic good and inadequate recognition of the environmental concerns associated with current practices have led us towards this catastrophic situation. Further more its remedy is an urgent one, otherwise it could trigger water riots and finally lead to social, if not political, catastrophe. Since no additional water is available, it is the time to recognize our responsibilities and start taking steps in the right direction.
So for overcoming the water crises following steps are recommended
Recommendations
The national water strategy must be based upon two essential elements covering
- Water developments
- Water management
Water development
In this construction of following dams should start immediately:-
(a) Chasha dam
It would be located 200 miles upstream of terbela on river Indus. its gross storage capacity would be 7.3 maf and live storage 5.7 maf. Its power generation capacity would be 3360 mw.
(b) Kalabagh dam
Kalabagh dam site is located 132 miles down stream of Terbela. Its gross storage would be 6.1 maf. It would have a power generation of 3600 mw. Here I shall further suggest that the construction of Kalabagh be under taken only, once all the provinces are convinced and willing to cooperate.
(c) Thal reservoir
It would be located on the right bank of Chashma – Jhelum link canal, along the western bank of river Jhelum. Its reservoir would have gross capacity of 2.3 maf.
(d) Raised Mangla dam
in this the present Mangla dam would be further raised by 40 ft and thus increasing its gross capacity to 9.5 maf. In addition, its power generation capacity would be increased by 15%.
(e) Mirani dam
The dam is located on Dasht River about 48 km of Turbat town in Mekran division. Its main objective is to provide water for irrigation. Its gross storage is 0.30 maf.
(f) Gomalzam dam
It is located at Khajori Kach on Gomal River in South Waziristan, about 75 miles from Dera Ismail Khan. Its main objective will be to irrigate 132000 acres of land, power generation of 17.4 mw and flood control.
From these projects we shall be able to store additional 20maf of water.
Water management
Managing water resources is the need of time, and we in Pakistan already short of water, must chalk out a strategy. In this endeavor can be made to save around 1.3 maf of water from existing losses. following is recommended in this regard:-
- Presently the losses occur due to seepage, infiltration and leakages etc. seepage results in water logging and these losses can be reduced or eliminated by lining the canals.
- In addition, people should be educated to conserve water by cooperation.
- Further more government should make laws on water conservation, like many western countries.
- The second largest contribution to the total water available comes from the groundwater sources. This source has been exploited and very well used by public and private tube wells. It can still provide over nine maf of water. This source can be exploited and judiciously used for irrigation purposes. How ever in some areas ground water is rapidly depleting due to excessive pumpage, authorities should take control in such areas to save them from depleting.
- Efforts be made to convert the present rotation based irrigation system to demand oriented system.
- The modern irrigation techniques, that is trickling, sprinkling etc, which have a potential to improve water distribution and its utilization.
- Authorities should take appropriate steps to curb the illegal extraction of water and ensure its equitable distribution.
- Presently irrigation department has failed to stop the illegal theft and extraction; thus irrigation distribution system needs to be privatized through water user associations.
- In addition, water, now-a-days is supplied to farmers at a very negligible cost and that is why they do not treat water as a precious resource; therefore there is a need to increase the water prices to make irrigators realize the importance of this asset.
- Farmer’s organizations, water user association, and private sector be involved in construction, operation, and maintenance of the irrigation system. Such associations are conceived as a mechanism for creating a cooperative frame work for improvement of watercourses.
Conclusion
The problems faced by the water sector in the country are many, acute and serious and it is also known that we can generate about 83 maf of more water. Therefore, building of more reservoirs and an effective management strategy are the needs of time. Also implementation of the recommendations will enable the country to meet the challenges, and achieve the objectives of integrated, efficient, environmentally and financially sustainable development and management of limited water resources. At the same time it will enable us to utilize every drop of our water for our bright future.
Saturday, 19 February 2011
Pakistan water crisis
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)