Highlights
- Australia to invest up to $10 million to improve water conditions in Pakistan
- Private and public sector to work together on urban water management
- Pakistan is amongst world’s most ‘water-stressed’ regions
On World Water Day (22 March), Minister for International Development and the Pacific, Zed Seselja launched the Australia-Pakistan Water Security Initiative, a project to assist Pakistan in achieving water security.
Over the next four years, the Australian Government will invest up to $10 million to share its expertise in building water-sensitive cities with Pakistan, the minister stated.
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Murray-Darling, meet Indus
“The onset of COVID-19 has reminded the world that clean water is vital to health and reducing the spread of disease,” Minister Seselja added.
The minister also added that the similarities between the Murray-Darling Basin and Indus Valley have long provided a foundation for technical cooperation on water security between the two countries.
“Australian and Pakistani experts from the public and private sectors will work together using the latest tools, techniques and technologies of urban water management,” he stated.
"The project with a focus on open areas also carries the promise of highlighting the significance attached to Pakistan by Australia at a time when Pakistani migration into Australia has increased manifold."
'Major win for Pakistan'
Professor Samina Yasmeen from the University of Western Australia (UWA) is a researcher of political and strategic development in South Asia and also the founder of the Centre for Muslim States and Societies in Perth.
She said that the deal is “quite significant” because it comes at a time when Australia is improving relations with India as part of the Quad with focus on the Indo-Pacific region.
“This initiative indicates that Australia takes in to account the needs of a major South Asian country. It’s a decision to help Pakistan deal with water scarcity, which is a serious issue being faced by its population and contributes to not only its low productivity but also the sickness and health of its population, especially during this COVID- 19 era,” Prof Yasmeen explains SBS Urdu.
The project with a focus on open areas also carries the promise of highlighting the significance attached to Pakistan by Australia at a time when Pakistani migration into Australia has increased manifold.
Village women pick cotton balls from a cotton field in the Pakistani city of Multan in central Punjab province. Source: ABDUL SATTAR QAMAR/AFP via Getty Images
“As the minister says, Pakistan is in need of water security and (there are) similarities between Australia and Pakistan in terms of water management issues. So, (this looks like) an Initiative that builds on the knowledge acquired in Australia, (and) carries the promise of helping Pakistan address some of its water management issues.
“This would help with hygiene issues, food production and improved health outcomes that affect general economic productivity as well,” she concludes.
What is water stress?
Pakistan is one of the most 'water-stressed' countries in the world.
Water stress is a condition when water resources of a region are insufficient for its needs. This could be due to demand exceeding supply of the deterioration in the quality of freshwater that restricts it use.
According to , when a territory withdraws 25 per cent or more of its renewable freshwater resources it is said to be ‘water-stressed’.
With a population of over 230 million, only about . Thirty per cent of the country’s diseases and 40 per cent of deaths are linked to the consumption of unclean water, according to a report by Australian thinktank Future Directions. (embed link: )
A man leads his water buffalo through a flood affected street on August 1, 2010 in Nowshera, Pakistan Source: Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images
Pakistan’s water complexities
Emeritus Professor James Trevelyan of UWA, has worked on several water projects in Pakistan. He believes the “unsustainable mining of ground water is depleting aquifers across the Subcontinent”.
“Water levels under cities like Quetta have dropped by hundreds of metres in recent years. Solar-powered submersible water pumps have exacerbated problems for farmers paying ever higher costs for irrigation. Many electric water pumps are permanently wired to power transformers,” he tells SBS Urdu.
Any move to relieve crippling electricity load-shedding endured by rural communities results in even more water withdrawals, and the excess water just goes down the nearest drainage channels.
Water resources management, therefore, is a complex social and technical issue which can be just as divisive in Australia as Pakistan: witness recent controversial debates on water licences and unsustainable farming practices in the Murray-Darling irrigation catchment.
He adds that Australian researchers are unravelling some of these complexities to understand how Pakistan’s engineers could overcome difficulties.
“Pakistan’s challenges are compounded by the daily challenges faced by the engineers managing water resources and infrastructure. They face a complex social culture where knowledge sharing — taken for granted by Australian engineers — is fraught with difficulties.
“As a result, engineering costs can be much higher than in Australia, defying common perceptions that focus only on hourly pay differences,” concludes Prof Trevelyan.
- SBS Urdu is broadcast every Wednesday and Sunday at 6 PM (AEST).
