LAHORE: Water shortage can directly hit economic growth of Pakistan as it is not only the cheapest source of power generation, but also lifeline of the agriculture sector.

It is a matter of concern thatwaterscarcityisincreasing with every passing day, yet more than 35 million acre feet of water was being thrown into the sea. Pakistan can hardly escape from becoming a big desert unless drastic measures are taken instantly.

This was the upshot of speeches delivered at a seminar on water conservation held here at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) on Tuesday.

LCCI President Ijaz A Mumtaz, Senior Vice President Mian Nauman Kabir, Vice President Syed Mahmood Ghaznavi, Environment Protection Secretary Iqbal Muhammad Chauhan, Ali Husnain, Prof Dr. Amir Haider, Mushtaq Ahmad Gill, Irrigation Director Ghulam Zakir Hassan Sial and Sindh Tas Council Chairman Salman Khan were the speal
The speakers said sufficient availability of waterwas a must for sustainable development, but in Pakistan per capita availability of water was decreasing as there were not enough reservoirs for storage.

Speaking on the occasion, the LCCI president said with every passing year, Pakistan was getting close to the brink of mass starvation because of a drastic cut in water availability from 5,000 cubic metres per capita in 1950s to 1,000 in 2010.

He said as per World Bank analysis, `our storage capacity has gone down to 150 cubic metres per capita whereas Ethiopia stands at 50`.

He said India had improved its per capita storage up to 200, which would improve further once underconstruction dams started operating.

He also said these facts called for establishing water reservoirs in the country that would enhance water storage capacity. He said the same reservoirs would come in handy in case of low and medium floods. He added that after every two to three years Pakistan had to face an emergency situation due to floods that adversely affected the economy and pushed the country back many years.