WAPDA organises session on water security issues

PESHAWAR, Nov 13 (APP): Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) has organised the 5th Consultative Session on Water Security Issues here, in line with the directive of the Prime Minister.
Addressing on the occasion, WAPDA Chairman Zafar Mahmood apprised the participants that these consultative sessions were being arranged to interact with stakeholders and experts to finalize recommendations for the Prime Minister’s initiatives on water security.
He said role of the provinces was becoming more important on water issues.Therefore, inter-provincial harmony was a must to devise an effective strategy for future water requirements in the country, he added.
The Chairman said our life depends upon water, adding water needs have been increasing rapidly due to fast population growth.Despite decreasing per capita water availability in the country, we have been spendthrift in use of water in all walks of life, he lamented.There was a dire need to think on national level about water issues, which continue to get complicated with each passing day, the Chairman added.
In the wake of a brief introduction about water security in Pakistan by WAPDA Advisor Dr Izhar-ul-Haq, the stakeholders and experts had a detailed discussion on water issues.
Pakistan Water Partnership Chief Executive Officer Sardar Muhammad Tariq gave a comprehensive account of water security in Pakistan.
KP Planning and Development Department Secretary Zafar Ali Shah expressed his views on water management, while Small Dams Director General Mujahid Saeed made recommendations about floods and droughts.Dr Rashid Rehan from UET Peshawar briefed the session on water quality.
CECOS University of Emerging Sciences and Technology Vice Chancellor Dr Riaz Khattak dilated upon utilization of flash floods followed by the presentations made by Rab Nawaz Khan of KP Agriculture Department about impacts of climate on water resources of Pakistan, Dr Inam Ullah from University of Agriculture Peshawar about crop zoning.
Dr Hussain Ahmad from Environmental Protection Agency Peshawar talked about climate change and adaptation measures, while Dr Bashir Khan from AJK apprised the session about emerging issues of AJK water resources.
Dr Mehboob Alam from Iqra International University apprised the participants about need of using global models for timely prediction of floods and droughts.
Dr Zulfiqar Ali from University of Peshawar made a comparison of the social and environmental implication of small, medium and large dams. Engineer Shafiq Ahmed from KP Agriculture Engineering Department spoke of ground water.Arsalan Haider from BAK Consultants presented a holistic approach to water issues.
It is worth mentioning that the session was attended by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Secretary Amjid Ali Khan, KP provincial Secretaries of Planning and Development, Population Welfare, Agriculture, Environment, Forestry and Wildlife and Public Health Engineering department and representatives of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJ&K) and Gilgit-Baltistan.
In addition to various educational institutions including University of Peshawar, University of Agriculture Peshawar, University of Engineering and Technology (UET) Peshawar, Sarhad University of Engineering and Information Technology Peshawar and Iqra University Peshawar, representatives from a number of non-governmental organizations (NGOS) namely Sarhad Rural Support Programme, The Change Foundation, and Creative Community Development Programme also participated in the event.