Pakistan has started to be beset by water problems, undermining its stability even more. Water shortages in the country have led to grain shortfalls. Flour became scarce in 2008. Thousands of government troops were sent to guard wheat stores. The rivers are drying up as the glaciers that regulate Kashmir’s waters melt. It is estimated that Pakistan may run out of water in the next two decades. ‘Ninety percent of Pakistan’s agricultural irrigation depends on rivers that originate in Kashmir.’
At the present rate of global warming, most of the glaciers would have melted by 2035, according to estimates of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Water that is normally available for agricultural irrigation will ‘flush away in winter floods.’ The best damming sites are found in Kashmir, a region under dispute between Pakistan and India.
Pakistan’s environmental problems may yet have political solutions. Lest it wants its people to starve, it can ‘cooperate with India in building dams and reservoirs, handing over control of its waters to the country it regards as the enemy.’ “The idea of ceding territory to India is anathema,” says Sumit Ganguly, a professor of political science at Indiana University.
More problems are coming the way for Pakistan. According to a recent World Bank report, ‘one-third of Pakistan’s economy is at risk from rising sea levels and stronger storm surges.’
Via The New Republic
Posted by GSerrano on July 27, 2009 in Environment · 1 Comment
india blocking water dosnt help either, when pakistan became indepdent the indians got so angry they cut out water and hoped we would give up… no wonder everyone in south asia hates the indians