Islamabad (May 01, 2018): The Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and chief ministers of all the provinces signed the country’s first ever National Water Policy (NWP) while also signing a charter calling for a water emergency in the country.
The decision was taken at the 37th meeting of the CCI chaired by Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi at his office few days earlier. The chief ministers of all four provinces also attended the meeting and signed on Pakistan water charter, promising consolidated efforts for tackling the impending water crisis in the country.
According to the copy acquired by Abbtakk News the draft policy includes pricing the water at the delivery point while for environmental and ecological needs the water supply has to be free of cost. The policy also includes increasing the development budget for water resources from 3.7% to 10% by 2019 and eventually to 20% by 2030.
According to the policy, a new groundwater authority will be established in each province to ensure sustainability and transparency, besides an information technology-based monitoring system at all diversion points from the rivers and reservoirs for availability of real-time data.
The prime objective of the NWP is to take congisance of the emerging water crisis and provide comprehensive guidelines. The NWP had been facing dozens of stumbling blocks since 2005 and was postponed for one reason or the other.
The ambitious policy aims at planning, regulating, developing, coordinating and managing water resources in the country. Later, in a separate ceremony, the PM and the four CMs signed a four-page document called the Pakistan Water Charter pledging commitment to the National Water Policy.
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