47. Pakistan Economic Survey 2011-12 - Consultancy Services in ...

Pakistan Economic Survey 2011-12TSS 1.2 to 6.2 times higher than surface waterguidelines.Globally, improved sanitation coverage was justabove the 60 percent mark in 2008, up from 54percent in 1990, with over 2,500 million peoplestill without access. Half of the people living indeveloping regions have no access to improvedsanitation 1 .Municipal sewage is a major source of surfacewater pollution. About 2 million wet tons ofhuman excreta are annually produced in the urbansector of which around 50 percent go onto pollutewater bodies. The National Conservation Strategystates that almost 40 percent of all disease relateddeaths are connected to water borne diseases.Other sources of water pollution are industrialeffluents, solid waste, hospital waste, chemicalfertilizers and pesticides.In Pakistan sanitation facilities are improving.However, much improvement is needed for ruralareas sanitation facilities. According to PBSPakistan Standard Living Measurement 2008-09,14 percent of all garbage collection facilitiesprovided to the population are executed throughmunicipalities, 7 percent through privatelymanaged collection systems, and the remaining 79percent have no system.The most basic requirement for proper sanitation issafe disposal of excreta away from a dwelling unit,by using a sanitary latrine. There is a greatvariation in latrine coverage between provinces.Urban Sindh has the best coverage followed byurban Khyber Pakhtukhwa.In most of the urban and rural population water issupplied from the ground water except for thecities of Karachi, Hyderabad, and part ofIslamabad, which mainly uses surface water.Therefore, deteriorating ground water quality inPakistan has serious implications for theenvironment and health of Pakistan’s population.Different national and international reports haveidentified Pakistan as one of the most ‘waterstressed’ countries in the world, facing lack of1 UN-2011water availability for irrigation, industry andhuman consumption. According to a World Bankreport, water supply in Pakistan fell from 5000cubic meters to 1000 cubic meters in 2010, and islikely to further reduce to 800 cubic meters percapita by 2020 due to growing population pressure,rapid urbanization and industrialization.The government is committed to provide safedrinking water through clean drinking waterinitiatives and installation of water filtration plants.However, the execution and monitoring ofgovernment efforts are being hindered by limitedresources, increasing population, fast growingurban development, industrialization, highoperational and maintenance and poor costrecovery, lack of private sector participation, andlow institutional capacities.Strategy and Action Plans (Water & Sanitation) Develop legal and policy frameworksregarding promotion of safe drinking water inPakistan. This promotion would includedesalinization of sea water. Develop a water quality database to assist indecision making. Establish a water quality monitoring andsurveillance system based on enforceablewater quality guidelines and standards.Conduct cyclic 4 seasonal water qualitymonitoring for major rivers and waterreservoirs. Address arsenic pollution of groundwater inSindh and Punjab through specific initiativesincluding investigative studies and awarenessraising programmes. Develop legal and policy frameworksregarding promotion of safe drinking water inPakistan. Make installation of water treatment plants anintegral component of drinking water supplyschemes. Develop an integrated approach that will guidethe allocation of water, allocation ofinvestment and pricing of water services, bothin rural and urban areas.Comment [MM9]: How did access to waterremain at 90-95% with this precipitous drop inavailability?Comment [MM10]: don't capitalize unless that'sthe name of the initiative.Comment [MM6]: tonnes, right?Comment [MM7]: 40 percent of disease relateddeaths, right?Comment [MM8]: This heading also talks aboutdrinking water, while the previous section also talksabout sanitation. Makes sense to combine into onesub-heading?242