Water Resources

situation in Pakistan
A Lecture
To Students
By
Mr. Allah Dad Khan

SOURCES OF WATER
There are two types of major resources of water in Pakistan,
natural and artificial.
Natural resources
include rainfall, rivers, glaciers, ponds, lakes, streams, karez and
wells etc.
Artificial resources
consist of the surface water from rainfall and rivers, which is in
excess of the requirements for irrigation and other uses, is stored
in dams and reservoirs. The water from these dams and reservoirs
is not only used for irrigation and supplying water for daily
consumption, but also used for hydroelectric power generation.

Rainfall
There are two major sources of rainfall in Pakistan i.e. the
Monsoons and the Western Disturbances. There is about 70
percent of the annual Monsoon rainfall from July to
September. Pakistan has both arid and semi-arid zones. The
entire Indus plain receives an average seasonal rainfall of
212mm and 53mm in the Kharif and Rabi seasons
respectively. The rainfall varies as we move from the north
and northeast to the south of the country. It is only the canal
command areas in the NWFP and the northern-most canal
commands of the Punjab Province that receive some
appreciable amount of rainfall during the summer as wall as
in the winter season.

Glaciers

There are more glaciers in Pakistan than any other

land except North and South Poles. The
glacier area of Pakistan is about 13,680 sq km and
on the average is 3 percent of mountainous region
of upper Indus Basin and accounts for most of the
river turnoff in summer. Pakistan has greatest mass
and collection of glassiers on the earth. In
Karakoram Range, the total length of glaciers is 160
km.
About 37 percent of the Karakoram area is under its
glacier, Himalayas has17 percent and European
Alps has 22 percent.

Rivers and Dams

Pakistan has been blessed with a number of rivers which

are tributaries to the Indus. The five
main rivers which join Indus from eastern side are Jhelum,
Chenab, Ravi, Beas and Sutlej, beside three
minor rivers are the Haro, Soan and Siran. There are
number of small rivers which join the River Indus
4
from the west side, in which biggest river is Kabul and
others are Kunar, Punj, Kora. The Gomal
Kurram, Tai, Kohat Tank and several other small streams
join the Indus River from the right side.

Storage Loss of Reservoirs

Source: MTDF 2005-10

Reservoir

Original
Gross
Storage
Capacity
(MAF)

Storage Loss
by the Year
2003 (MAF)

Stor age
Loss
b(Projected)
(MAF)
Year 2010

Terbela

11.62 (1974)

3.14 (27%)

3.95 (34%)

Chashma

0.87 (1971)

0.37 (43%)

0.48(55%)

Mangla

5.88 (1967)

1.18 (20%)

1.60 (27%)

SOURCES OF WATER

Indus Basin River

The Indus river basin constitutes of the mountain basins

Indus plain, Karachi plains and desert areas of Sindh. Its
source of water is snowing, glacier melting and rainfalls.

Closed basin Kharan desert

It consists of areas of mountain basins of Quetta. Its main

sources of water are rainfall and nominal snow.

Makran coastal basin

Makran coastal basin constitutes of streams of Malir, Hub,
Porali, Hingol, and Kech. Its main source of water is
rainfall.

Groundwater resources
Estimated groundwater resources
Source: National Water Policy, Vol. II, January 2002.

Province

Million
acre/feet

Billion m3

Punjab

43.2

52.8

Sindh

18.4

22.5

Balochistan

2.1

2.5

KPK

3.1

3.8

Total

66.8

81.6

Water reservoirs

Pakistan is having three basic reservoirs, namely mangla

dam reservoir, Terbela dam reservoir and Chashma
barrage reservoir. More small reservoirs like Warsak,
Khanpur and Kinjhar lake Are also included as small
storage.

Utilization Of Water

Irrigation

Out of 240.22 maf, 172.21 maf water is utilized for

irrigation purposes.

Drinking

Most of the rural and urban water is supplied from ground

water through tube wells and hand pumps. Net
consumption is normally about 2% of the total water
available.

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 miss-management of water resources.

Impact on economy / society

Less water means less agricultural yields and to

fulfill the food requirements of the nation, we will
be dependent on other countries.
Due to less production of main crops, which are
wheat, cotton, sugar cane and rice, the
Industries related to them will suffer adversely

Less agricultural outputs will compel

people to head towards urban areas for
jobs, which will increase the
unemployment further.

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.

Water Issue between Pakistan &

India

Concern is growing in Pakistan that India is

controlling the water flow of rivers that flow from
India into Pakistan.

Pakistan has raised objections to Indian water

projects, but a World Bank-appointed neutral expert
rejected most of the Pakistani objections.

Pakistani commentators, think that India is

controlling the river waters to strangulate Pakistani
agriculture, which could affect Pakistani exports
and increase its dependency on food imports.

Conclusion

The problems faced by the water sector in the country are many, acute and
serious. 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.

The End