Lahore: SAARC Senior vice President Iftikhar Ali Malik highlighted the Issue of Water Scarcity in Pakistan saying that according to international standards, every country should have at least 4 months of water storage capacity while Pakistan can only store 30 days’ worth of water. He further added that every year water worth $20 Billion flows into the sea because of nonexistent water storage mechanisms available in Pakistan and assured that all the chambers and trade bodies and associations affiliated with FPCCI (Federation of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry) will contribute generously towards this Noble cause of building Diamer-Bhasha, Mohmand dams to save our future generations from imminent drought and starvation. In comparison India has the ability to store water for 120-220 days. Egypt has 1,000 days water storage capacity only on River Nile, America 900 days on River Colorado, Australia 600 and South Africa has the ability to store water for 500 days on River Orange.
Pakistan Furniture council (PFC) also announced Rs 1 million for construction of Diamer-Bhasha, Mohmand dams’ fund. PFC Chief Executive Officer Mian Kashif Ashfaq said that Pakistan is one of the 36 water scarce countries in the world. It is one of the top 10 countries in the world where clean drinking water is not available to people. This results in transmission of an increasing number of water borne diseases.
