Website on water information launched

Staff Report

ISLAMABAD: Water and Power Division Additional Secretary Riaz Ahmed Khan on Thursday launched the ‘Pakistan Water Gateway’, a website for all water related information pertaining to Pakistan on the Internet, and said the website had been launched by the World Conservation Union of Pakistan with the Dutch government’s support.

Talking to journalists here after the launching, he said water had recently emerged as one of the most critical themes of sustainable development, especially in arid countries of the developing world like Pakistan. Scarcity of water, he said, was fast becoming a source of major conflict, not only between countries, but also between different regions and communities within countries. Almost 70 percent of water across the globe was being directly consumed in agriculture, whereas for a country like Pakistan the figure has exceeded to 90 percent, he said

“Tensions between the provinces on dams are due to the dearth of reliable data and information on these subjects,” he added. Presenting the welcome address, Country Representative IUCN Pakistan Abdul Latif said Pakistan lacked the culture of information sharing and open access.

Emphasising the importance of information and communication, he said the launching of the ‘Pakistan Water Gateway’ would bridge the gap between the government, civil society, media, water experts, students, researchers and general public.

Dr Khalid Mohtadullah, a renowned water expert, Chief of Communication and Knowledge Management Group, IUCN, Pakistan Hasan Rizvi and Asif Zaidi also addressed the ceremony.

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