Pakistan Facing Acute Water Shortage; Likely To Battle Absolute Water Scarcity By 2040: IMF Report

International Monetary Fund (IMF) is said to have identified Pakistan as one of the nations which are facing acute water scarcity, reports Livemint citing Washington-based magazine The National Interest.

IMF has placed Pakistan at the third position in the list of countries facing acute water scarcity, with the likelihood of the situation worsening by 2040 to such an extent that the Islamic Republic may end up facing absolute water scarcity.

IMF has also noted that the per capita availability of fresh water in Pakistan has fallen below the water scarcity threshold of 1,000 cubic meters. This is highly worrisome as this figure stood at 3,950 cubic metres in 1961, and 1,600 cubic metres in 1991.

In an article published in The National Interest, researcher Nasir Javaid said, "Many experts fear that the per capita availability of fresh water in Pakistan will further decline to 860 cubic meters by 2025 and the country may reach absolute water scarcity by 2040. The decline can also be attributed to the rising population, as, for instance, the population has increased from 46 million in 1961 to over 200 million today."

Javaid also stated that Pakistan should adopt "drip and sprinkler" irrigation technique to meet its agricultural needs and combat the water wastage ratio, which is astonishingly high at 45 per cent.