While the world marked World Environment Day with calls to protect nature and conserve resources, 30-year-old Hussain Ali remained focused on a more immediate concern of bringing home safe drinking water for his family.
World Environment Day: A daily struggle for clean water highlights urgent need to protect natural resources
By Fakhar-e-Alam
PESHAWAR, Jun 05 (APP):While the world marked World Environment Day with calls to protect nature and conserve resources, 30-year-old Hussain Ali remained focused on a more immediate concern of bringing home safe drinking water for his family.
For the past four years, Hussain, a daily wage labourer from Mohib Banda village in Nowshera district, has travelled nearly 12 kilometers every day on his motorcycle to collect clean drinking water from a filtration plant in tehsil Pabbi and returned back amid sizzling heat.
The groundwater in his village became contaminated after the devastating 2022 floods in the Kabul River, leaving thousands of residents of his hometown and adjoining villages with limited options.
After completing a full day of labour in construction, Hussain begins another hard journey in the evening for potable water. Carrying three empty gallons, he heads to the Tehsil Municipal Administration (TMA) filtration plant, fills them with potable water, and returns home late at night.
“The water in our village located on bank of River Kabul became unhealthy after the 2022 floods,” Hussain told APP while loading water containers onto his motorcycle. “I have small children and cannot risk their health by giving them contaminated water.”
His struggle is shared by hundreds of families in Mohib Banda, Dheri Mian Ishaq, Amankot, Banda Sheikh Ismail and neighboring villages. Every day, residents can be seen transporting water on motorcycles, bicycles, rickshaws, and vehicles from distant filtration plants in Pabbi, Nowshera, and Peshawar.
Despite repeated appeals to local representatives and authorities of PTI Govt, residents said their demand for a community filtration plant remains unmet.
The plight of Hussain and many others reflects the broader environmental challenges facing Pakistan as the world observes World Environment Day.
The 2026 environment day theme, “Inspired by Nature. For Climate. For Our Future,” encourages communities worldwide to protect natural resources, adopt sustainable lifestyles, and contribute to climate action.
Established by the United Nations in 1972, World Environment Day has evolved into one of the largest global platforms for environmental awareness, bringing together governments, organizations, and citizens to address pressing ecological concerns.
Inspite it for many communities in Khyber Pakthunkhwa, environmental degradation is not an abstract concept rather it directly affects daily survival.
Environmental experts warned that climate change, desertification, prolonged droughts, deforestration and land degradation are rapidly threatening livelihoods across Khyber Pakthunkhwa.
Former Conservator of Forests Gulzar Rehman said the negative effects of climate change and desertification are visible across large parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, including Swabi, Mardan, Nowshera, Kohat, Karak, Dera Ismail Khan, and Lakki Marwat where huge lands were nonproductive due to depleting water resources.
“Earth is our home,” he said. “Nature provides us with everything we need for survival. Protecting forests, water resources, mountains, and biodiversity is our collective responsibility,” he said, adding pumping of underground water by the car washing stations in KP largely contributed to depleting water resources and downing of the water table especially in Peshawar. He said brining these car washing stations under proper regulation and monitoring system will help save the precious water resource of waste.
According to him, desertification and land degradation are increasingly threatening food security by turning fertile land barren and reducing agricultural productivity. Extreme weather events, including floods and droughts, continue to accelerate the process.
Global studies indicated that nearly 40 percent of the world’s land has already been degraded, affecting millions of people and increasing the risk of water scarcity, food shortages, and mass displacement.
Environmental scientist Professor Dr. Salimur Rehman, former chairman of the Environmental Sciences Department at the University of Peshawar, warned that Pakistan faces a particularly difficult future if natural resources were not protected.
He said that nearly two-thirds of the country’s agricultural land and most of its arid and semi-arid regions especially in KP are affected by land degradation, desertification, and drought.
With population growth continuing at over two percent annually, pressure on agricultural and natural resources besides housing, and infrastructure is mounting with passing year.
“If climate change and environmental degradation are not addressed on priority, Pakistan could face serious food security challenges in the coming decades,” he cautioned.
Experts also pointed to shrinking groundwater reserves in parts of Sindh and Balochistan, increasing deforestation, overgrazing, and unsustainable land-use practices as major contributors to environmental decline.
Government officials said several initiatives are underway to combat environmental degradation and protect natural resources in Pakistan.
Projects such as the Sustainable Land Management Programme (SLMP), afforestation campaigns, rangeland rehabilitation efforts, and climate adaptation strategies have helped restore thousands of hectares of degraded land in vulnerable districts across Pakistan.
Diyar Khan, Project Director of Billion Trees Afforestation Project, said scientific land management, forest restoration, and climate-resilient policies are already showing positive results in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Similarly, Junaid Khan, Secretary for Climate Change, Forests, Environment and Wildlife, emphasized that environmental protection remains a top provincial priority.
“Protecting the environment is not only essential for the present generation but also a guarantee of a safe, healthy, and prosperous future for generations to come,” he said in his World Environment Day message.
He urged citizens to play their part by planting trees, conserving water, reducing waste, minimizing plastic use, and adopting environmentally responsible lifestyles.
As policymakers discussed climate resilience and environmental sustainability, Hussain Ali’s daily struggle serves as a powerful reminder that environmental degradation and depleting water resources ultimately affects ordinary people first.
For him, World Environment Day is not about slogans or campaigns but it is about the simple hope that one day clean drinking water will be available in his village, eliminating the need for a nightly journey that has become part of his life.
His story underscored a fundamental truth behind this year’s message of protecting natural resources is not only about preserving the environment but it is about safeguarding human dignity, health, and the future of communities across Pakistan.
