Minister for Science and Technology Shibli Faraz set off the alarm bells on Thursday when he admitted that Pakistan was facing serious water issues and that not only the country was heading towards water scarcity but around 27,000 children are annually dying because of water-related diseases, reported Express Tribune.
Expressing his views on existing and emerging water challenges in Pakistan, the science minister minced no words in describing the grim picture of water issues and scarcity amid an ongoing conflict over water distribution between the centre and the provinces.
Expressing that the “climate change phenomenon has put Pakistan amongst the most vulnerable countries in the world,” the minister said that as a nation, “We are heading towards water scarcity.”
“A sign of this alarming situation is that about 27,000 children are dying annually due to water-borne diseases,” he revealed.
In March 2019, the UNICEF chief had said that more children were killed by unsafe water than the bullets. He said that 85,700 children under-15 die from diarrhoea linked to unsafe water, sanitation and hygiene facilities every year, compared with 30,900 from conflict.
“Despite these natural resources, we are facing serious water issues and governance challenges,” Faraz said while addressing the Pakistan Water Conference at Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR).
