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University of the Punjab

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ICS Organized a Seminar titled “Pakistan’s greatest challenge: The impeding water crisis in Pakistan”
ICS Organized a Seminar titled “Pakistan’s greatest challenge: The impeding water crisis in Pakistan”


LAHORE: (Thursday, June 04, 2015): The Institute of Communication Studies of the University of the Punjab organized a seminar titled “Pakistan's greatest challenge: The impeding water crisis in Pakistan” to mark World Environment Day on 4th June at the Hameed Nizami Conference Hall.
The seminar focused on the dire state of water shortage in Pakistan and its consequences for our future generations. It also highlighted the issue of water availability and its relation with water conservation practices without which we face water scarcity within the next ten years.
The speakers invited included Mr. Haroon Gill an Environmentalist, Muhammad Sanaullah from the Department of Geology at PU and Dr. Iftikhar Senior Profeesor at CEES, PU.
Dr. Iftikhar focused on the issue of water conservation in Pakistan. He said “Pakistan urgently requires major dam and reservoir projects to meet our irrigation and power requirements. We have enough water for our needs which is being wasted due to poor management and neglect of the policy makers.” He also revealed that for the last 34 years there has been no sustainable improvement in the water sector in Pakistan. He suggested that public and private partnerships in this regard may be very beneficial to the water crisis in Pakistan.
Mr. Haroon Gill focused on the environmental and climatic changes and their relation with the current water crisis in Pakistan. He also discussed the ground realities behind the devastating floods hitting Pakistan annually. The people affected by these floods have become a huge concern for disaster management and humanitarian authorities.
Professor Sanaullah in his paper said that “daily water consumption for an individual is around 40 liters out of which only 8 Liters is used for drinking purposes. Despite the need the issue has never been a government priority”. He also discussed the effect of Indus Water Treaty on water availability in Pakistan.
Concluding remarks were expressed by Dr. Bushra H. Rahman on behalf of the Institute of Communication Studies. Each session was followed by a lively question answer session that aimed to sensitize the young generation about the grave situation regarding water availability and its quality in Pakistan. She also revealed that this seminar was a first step for further work on this issue in the form of a communication campaign titled “Drop of Survival- Qatra e Baqah.”