Water warning

In a report released on Monday (Nov 14), Unicef has said that almost one billion children around the world are exposed to high or extremely high water stress; and that the MENA and South Asian regions are gravely impacted by the water crisis. Let us nor forget that South Asia alone homes one-quarter of the world’s children. While climate change is responsible for the ever-evolving water crisis, our unchecked practices also share the blame for this awful situation. Children across the world deserve to have access to clean drinking water, and they cannot be left alone to face the consequences of the carelessness displayed by the generations above them. Water has always been taken for granted by countries, and no water policy has been developed to stop the wastage of water.

In Pakistan, the expansion of urban areas and a rise in vertical living have increased water demand. And while the governments fail to meet people’s needs, they have allowed private water companies to exploit the country’s resources and sell the utility at higher rates. But this has created deep divides within society. On the one hand, densely populated low-income areas have to store water in jerry cans and drums as they receive ‘line water’ once or twice a week, and on the other, residential buildings in posh areas maintain large swimming pools that require an extensive amount of water.

It is also rather alarming that while other countries are moving towards sustainable living, Pakistan has not made any progress in this regard. The private sector in some countries (especially in the Middle East) has come up with a mechanism where they convert air into water. This allows them to reduce the exploitation of already scarce water resources. And while these companies sell the air-to-water machinery to people in the Global South, it is on us to manufacture them locally and reduce costs. Water is a basic human right, and its utility should not be subjected to people’s affordability. Many urban planning experts seem satisfied that the report has been launched a few weeks before COP28 (which will be held in Dubai, UAE) where global leaders will meet to discuss the climate challenge. But it is also important to realize that the mere attendance of these people is not assuring, since they are the same leaders who have gone completely silently over Israel’s blockade in Gaza, where it has left two million people (half of which are children) without a drop of water. And while these helpless children can rely on natural events like rainfall to quench their thirst, they (and people with conscience around the world) will not forget the criminal silence of those who willingly left children without water. Whether wars or climate change or bad policy, the fact is that there are one billion children’s lives at risk due to water scarcity. This cannot go ignored.