Water crisis

The Pakistan Council of Research of Water Resources (PCRWR) tested 29 sources of potable water for toxicity levels across the country and found 20 of them to be entirely unsafe. It seems that the people have been drinking water laced with high levels of arsenic, iron, fluoride and even brain-eating amoeba for many years. A report released by the Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) earlier this year revealed that the country’s industrial waste, poor sewerage system, agricultural run-off and unplanned urbanisation are all primary causes of the contamination of drinking water, and this polluted water was being consumed all across the country. It is no surprise then that our water supply has become a thriving environment for dangerous bacteria and viruses like the brain-eating amoeba that killed six people this month alone in Karachi. The authorities should be scrambling for finding viable and immediate solutions.

They should come up with water policies that revolved around making it mandatory to check water quality once a year; our country also requires a comprehensive strategy that involves laws regarding proper disposal procedures and a detailed purification process. Filtration, distillation, chlorinating and reverse osmosis have been scientifically proven to create effective barriers for pollutants and bacteria to remain in water. However, if these are proving to be unsustainable for the government, the least it can do is provide incentives, like tax cuts or subsidies, for corporations to either develop more sustainable methods or take over the large-scale purification process. Regardless of what route we take, now is the time for the government to remain determined and motivated politically and socially. If we are to battle the impending water crisis, we must eliminate pre-existing problems first.

Qazi Jamshed Alam Siddiqui

Lahore