Ghulam Haider Shaikh
Pakistan’s agriculture, energy, economy, and national security are directly linked to the sustainable management of its water resources.
It is a universally acknowledged truth that nations securing their water supplies in time avoid droughts, energy crises, and food shortages, while also ensuring industrial, agricultural, and social development. Sadly, Pakistan—despite being an agrarian country—has long been slipping into a deepening water crisis, exacerbated by poor planning, rapid population growth, and political complacency.
Today, Pakistan’s per capita water availability has plunged to alarming levels. International organizations have already categorized Pakistan among the most water-stressed countries. At the time of independence, Pakistan had around 5,000 cubic meters of water per person annually. That number has now fallen to under 900 cubic meters. According to the United Nations, countries with less than 1,000 cubic meters per capita are considered water-stressed. Pakistan has gone beyond that threshold and now qualifies as a water-scarce nation.
The issue is not just the shortage of water but our longstanding failure to address it seriously and systematically. Pakistan receives an average of 145 million acre-feet (MAF) of water annually, but only about 13% is stored. The rest either flows into the sea unused or is lost through natural drainage. If we had built adequate water storage systems—i.e., dams—this water could have been utilized during dry seasons to support agriculture, generate electricity, supply clean drinking water, and support industries.
Unfortunately, since the construction of Tarbela and Mangla dams in the 1960s, no major water reservoir has been completed in Pakistan. This decades-long gap has increased our vulnerability to water shortages and forced us to rely on expensive alternatives for electricity generation. Hydropower, which is the cheapest and most environmentally friendly source of energy worldwide, contributes only about 26% to Pakistan’s electricity mix. In contrast, hydropower accounts for around 40% in India, 60% in China, and over 90% in Norway. We have failed to fully utilize our greatest natural blessing—water.
The biggest hurdle in dam construction has been political discord. Every government has reduced this vital issue to slogans and short-term optics. Take the Diamer-Bhasha Dam for instance. The project has existed in planning documents since the 1980s. Many governments came and went, foundation stones were laid, fundraising campaigns launched—but no substantial progress was made. Eventually, the judiciary had to intervene. Former Chief Justice SaqibNisar initiated a nationwide campaign to mobilize attention toward this critical issue. Though it faced criticism, it undeniably revived the national debate on water security.
Similarly, the Mohmand Dam project, inaugurated in 2019, has faced continuous delays. Each year, budgetary allocations are made, but actual implementation is stalled due to funding gaps, NAB investigations, administrative inefficiencies, and local land disputes. The public rightly questions: if India can build three to five large dams annually, why can’t Pakistan complete even one in a decade? Isn’t this a sign of failed leadership and misplaced national priorities?
Adding to this crisis are regional hostilities and strategic threats. India, in blatant violation of the Indus Waters Treaty, has constructed multiple small and large dams in occupied Kashmir, giving it the potential to manipulate Pakistan’s water flows. Annual reports by Pakistan’s Indus Water Commission repeatedly warn that India is engaging in “water aggression” with the intent to weaken Pakistan’s agricultural backbone. If Pakistan does not significantly improve its water storage capacity, it will face unprecedented challenges, including agricultural collapse, mass unemployment, and a rise in poverty and food insecurity.
While the latest federal budget’s allocation of significant funds for dam construction is a welcome step, mere financial allocations without execution mean little. If these projects remain mired in bureaucratic hurdles, mismanagement, or corruption, they will end up as yet another failed promise. Pakistan needs more than announcements—we need timely, transparent, and efficiently managed implementation.
Dams should not merely be seen as civil engineering projects; they are instruments of national survival. Every dam serves to mitigate floods, produce electricity, support local economies, create jobs, and ensure water for irrigation and human consumption. Delaying such projects is equivalent to robbing future generations of their fundamental rights.
There is an urgent need for a unified national narrative that sees dams not as political symbols but as essential lifelines. Just as we came together as a nation to build our nuclear program, we must now unite to ensure water security. This will require depoliticizing water infrastructure, ensuring administrative accountability, monitoring progress, and incorporating environmental and social safeguards at every stage.
The current moment demands decisive action. Political leaders, state institutions, the judiciary, media, and the public must collectively push for a new era of water management. The path forward is clear: either we secure our water resources now or prepare for an irreversible future marked by droughts, famines, and civil unrest.
Dams are not a luxury or a choice—they are a national obligation. History is unkind to nations that fail to act in time. If we do not protect our water today, time itself will turn against us. The choice is ours: unite for the preservation of water, or leave behind a legacy of thirst, darkness, and regret for the generations to come.
