Pakistan may run dry by 2025 as water scarcity deepens: Report

ISLAMABAD, May 31: Pakistan water shortage is deepening, as the country will reach absolute water scarcity in 2025, says a report by the Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR).
According to local media reports, The PCRWR has warned that Pakistan may run dry by 2025 if immediate actions are not taken by the authorities. The report is yet to be released but, parts of which have been made available to the media.
The report said that Pakistan hit the “water stress line” in 1990 and then crossed the “water scarcity line” in 2005. But to overcome the water crisis, further research is required to generate possible solutions.
However, “Unfortunately, the PCRWR has no funds to ensure sustainable research,” an official from the Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST) said. Reports added that PCRWR, established in 1964 and is under the control of MoST, and has asked the government to create Rs50 million funds for research and development activities, informed the official.
As per Deutsche Welle, water scarcity is also triggering conflicts in the country. “The government is ignoring the interests of our province,” Ayaz Lateef Palejo, a nationalist leader from the southern Sindh province, told DW. “There is massive corruption in the water sector, and we are unhappy with the situation,” he added. As per npr, a recently published report by the World Health Organization (WHO) says that that in areas where water is currently readily available, like Central Africa and East Asia, it could become harder to find. And in areas like the Middle East, already facing water problems, “scarcity will greatly worsen.”-DNA