ISLAMABAD: In a move to address lingering water crisis in the country, Prime Minister Imran Khan directed all PTI chapters abroad and all those of other political parties to launch a ‘jihad’ to collect funds for building dams in Pakistan.
“The future of our next generations will be in jeopardy, if we do not take any urgent steps to build water reservoirs,” Prime Minister Imran Khan said in an address broadcast on the national television networks and said the country faced a “serious crisis”.
Khan said in the briefings he had received in the past one fortnight, he was astonished to find out the quantum of challenges the country faced.
He said the total loans the country owed were Rs 6000 billion (Rs 6 trillion) ten years back, but today they had swelled to Rs 30,000 billions (Rs 30 trillion). The water crisis was the most serious crisis confronting the country, he added.
“Construction of a dam for Pakistan today is inevitable,” Imran Khan said and pointed that the country had an average water storage capacity of only 30 days, as compared to 190 days of India and 1000 days for Egypt. He said on an average, a country should have 120 day storage capacity.
He said in 1947, the water storage for each Pakistani was around 5600 cubic meters, while today, it had dwindled to 1000 cubic meters.
The prime minister said the experts had already warned about the impact of climate change on Pakistan and said the country was expected to be hit by a drought by the year 2025. He warned that Pakistan would not have any water for its crops and for feeding its people.
“I laud the Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Saqib Nisar for his initiative for launching funds for the construction of dams.” He admitted that though it was not the job of the Chief Justice to take this step, but it was the responsibility of the political leadership of the country. He however regretted that they failed to do their duty.
