Islamabad [Pakistan], December 17 : Only 47 per cent of people in Pakistan have access to safe drinking water, experts cautioned at a seminar organised by the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE) in Islamabad, emphasising the country's escalating water-quality crisis and its serious consequences for public health, productivity, and sustainable development, as reported by The Express Tribune (TET).
During the event titled "The Thirst for Safety: Water Quality and Public Health in Pakistan", Dr Hifza Rasheed, Director General (Water Quality) at the Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR), stated that Pakistan's per capita availability of freshwater has decreased from 5,260 cubic metres in 1951 to under 1,000 cubic metres in 2024, placing it among countries facing water scarcity, according to the TET report.
Dr Rasheed and Dr Shujaat Farooq, Dean (Research) at PIDE, pointed out that unsafe drinking water is responsible for nearly 40 per cent of illnesses across the nation and called for immediate, coordinated, and climate-resilient reforms to protect Pakistan's water future. The session gathered experts, researchers, and students to examine the country's deteriorating water-quality situation and its consequences for health, productivity, and sustainable development.
Opening the seminar, Dr Farooq remarked that despite Pakistan's rich natural resources, factors such as contamination, over-extraction, and institutional disorganisation have turned water insecurity into one of the country's most urgent public health issues. Referencing UNICEF data, he noted that nearly 70% of households use contaminated water, with 30-40% of diseases, including diarrhoea, hepatitis, and typhoid, arising from unsafe water. He stressed that the issue is not only one of scarcity but also inadequate coordination and management, as highlighted by the TET report.
In a national overview presentation, Dr Rasheed indicated that Pakistan's per capita freshwater availability has declined from 5,260 m³ in 1951 to less than 1,000 m³ in 2024, categorising the nation as water-scarce. Agriculture accounts for around 93% of total freshwater usage, yet irrigation efficiency is below 40%. In Punjab alone, over 1.3 million tubewells draw approximately 50 million acre-feet of groundwater each year, leading to significant depletion.
Data from PCRWR reveal that only 47 per cent of Pakistan's population currently has access to safe drinking water. She cautioned that unsafe water results in roughly 53,000 child fatalities each year and contributes to high stunting rates, impacting 44% of children nationwide. Major pollutants include industrial discharge, pesticides, and untreated sewage, with substantial arsenic contamination in southern Punjab and Sindh. Only 38% of wastewater is treated before being released into the environment.
Focusing on climate risks, Dr Rasheed stated that Pakistan ranks fifth among the globe's most water-insecure countries. The floods in 2025 resulted in $14.9 billion in damages, exacerbating contamination and disease, as noted in the TET report.