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A man is filling his bottles with clean drinking water from a spring at Margalla Road. Image Credit: Online

Dubai: Terrorism, celebrity controversies and cricket wins are what rule Pakistan’s headlines but beneath all the commotion the country is battling a severe problem – a massive water crisis.

Reports by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) as well as the Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR) has alerted that the country will reach absolute water scarcity by the year 2025.

A boy is placing his cans in the queue to fill with clean drinking water from a hydrant pump in Baldia Town, Muhajir Mohalla.  File

The UN report also highlights that the most immediate threats would be water availability to the masses and Neil Buhne, UN Humanitarian Coordinator, Pakistan said, “No person in Pakistan, whether from the north with its more than 5,000 glaciers, or from the south with its ‘hyper deserts’, will be immune to this.”

A boy drinking water from hand pump in a slum in Islamamabad.  Online photo by Saad Abbasi.

To put it in perspective, Pakistan is on its way to become the most water-stressed country in the region, by the year 2040, according to the report.

Despite the warnings, the general population thinks that authorities do not seem to take water insecurity seriously.

Pakistan is on its way to become the most water-stressed country in the region, by the year 2040, according to the report.  File

Pakistani actor known for voicing his concerns on social media, Hamza Ali Abbasi’s tweet said: “@iamhamzaabbasi: Pakistan is running out of water..... Fast” and added that a dam needs to be built immediately.

Tweeps were overall concerned about the country’s priorities. User @Teepusahab said: “Pakistan is wasting 13 million cusec water into the sea, and will be waterless in a few years but hey we have nuclear bomb to deal with our thirst.”

Another tweet by @RuhidaPTI said: “Kalabagh dam which will increase the water resources of the country is being opposed while Thar coal project, which will consume huge amount of water and will contaminate all water, air and land resources of Pakistan is being advocated by the government.”

Twitter user @Jeebeeee highlighted: “There will be soon no water available… but guess what? All we care about is the ban of #VeereDiWedding.”

The Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR) warns country will approach absolute water scarcity.  Reuters

Twitter user and journalist @faizanlakhani suggested some reasons for the issue. He said: “According to IMF, Pakistan ranks third amongst countries facing water shortages and a major reason behind this is the excessive use of water without any mechanism to save it.”

Reports are attributing the crisis to climate change and poor management around the country.

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A boy is placing his cans in the queue to fill with clean drinking water from a hydrant pump in Baldia Town, Muhajir Mohalla. Image Credit:
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PCRWR warns country will approach absolute water scarcity. Image Credit: Reuters
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A boy drinking water from hand pump in a slum in Islamamabad. Online photo by Saad Abbasi Image Credit:
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