Scarcity of water could pose bigger danger than terrorism, thus the government should work on war-footing to save fast depleting water resources as we have only 13 per cent water of over total requirement. According to Chairman, Pakistan Industrial and Traders Associations Front (PIAF) Malik Tahir Javed the water situation is more alarming than what is being presumed by government circles and if remedial measures are not taken the Agriculture sector would come under severe threat.
He said that the shortage of electricity had already broken the back of the industry and now the shortage of water would be hitting the Agriculture sector. The PIAF Chairman said that it was very unfortunate that during the last five years the rulers kept themselves busy with unnecessary tasks instead of doing any real job. Had they been a little serious, the situation would not have been so bad.
He said that neighbouring India had built numerous dams, while no considerable work was done in Pakistan and that was the only reason that economic situation was taking much time in getting back on its feet. The PIAF Chairman said that there were sites in Pakistan near Dera Ghazi Khan where the flow of water could do a lot of help in power generation but since the previous government’s entire focus was on rental power generation therefore it could not avail the available opportunities.
He also criticised the government plans to jack-up the prices of petroleum products. He said that it would increase the already exorbitant cost of doing business in Pakistan. He said that that the private sector believes that the present government was taking steps to strengthen the economy but it would also have to look into the water issue that could aggravate economic scenario in coming years.
