ISLAMABAD: The growing water scarcity is an issue itself but the management of used water in the form of domestic and industrial wastewater is becoming a serious hazard to the system, said Fazal Abbas Maken, Secretary, Ministry of Science and Technology.
He expressed his views while addressing the participants of inaugural session of one-day workshop on Water Quality Situation in surface water bodies of Pakistan, Ravi and Sutlej, in collaboration with Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) organised by PCRWR.
The annual wastewater generation in Pakistan was more than five million cubic feet (MAF), out of which, hardly less than one percent are treated. The untreated wastewater was being disposed off into the river system, which was a serious threat to entire ecosystem.
He informed the audience about the present initiative of the PCRWR envisages monitoring the quality of major rivers of Pakistan through a joint collaboration with CSIRO for handling the situation and improving wastewater management.
This information would help to understand the health of the rivers and suggest strategic management measures accordingly, he said.
On the occasion, acting High Commissioner of Australia, Jurek Juszczyk, said the Australian High Commission was pleased to have partnered with the Pakistan Council for Research in Water Resources to launch this groundwater report.
This study had been conducted under the Australia-Pakistan Indus Sustainable Development Investment Portfolio (SDIP), a 12-year regional programme focused on the water, food and energy connection in the three large river basins in South Asia, he added.
The scientists of CSIRO were working with Pakistan’s hydrologists to effectively manage Pakistan’s water resources. He hoped that the data collected in this report can be used not only by water managers but the broader community, including for sewage management, agricultural development and industry.
Earlier, PCRWR Chairman Dr Muhammad Ashraf said that intensive use of agro-chemicals and untreated effluents from industry are potential source of environmental pollution, especially with respect to water quality.
“Let us try to give our best and make individual contributions to not only developing new sources of water on sustainable basis but also to improve and protect the existing sources from undesirable pollutants to ensure a healthy and disease-free society, which can contribute positively to national development”, he said.
The participants from academia, provincial environmental agencies, WASA, Public Health Engineering and health departments, and chemical industries, Pakistan Commission on Indus Water, PINSTECH, UNICEF, JICA and US Embassy attended the workshop.
