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Emergence of the great civilizations of the world along the rivers is a testimony to the fact that water, a life sustaining resource on planet earth, has a critical significance for mans survival (water for drinking and health and hygiene purposes) and prosperity (water for irrigation, fishing and other livelihood sources). Like any other natural resource, access to water, too, has always been determined by mans physical, political and economic power. However, the advent of scientific water-appropriating technologies, which enhanced mans control over water, redefined power relations as well as water rights within and among the societies and thus created new power imbalances. Though highly praised for power generation and increased agricultural produce, large dams, barrages, weirs and canal irrigation networks the world over gave birth to a host of social and environmental problems.
Major social problems are displacement, livelihood disruptions and politico-economic disempowerment of women, landless peasants, artisans, fisher-folks, nomadic pastorals and other weaker sections of society. While the environmental problems emanating from large dams and mega irrigation projects include: water-logging, salinity, loss of bio-diversity and aquatic life, contamination of freshwater resources, degradation of mangrove forests and deltaic zone, and sea-intrusion. With the worlds largest integrated irrigation network known as Indus Basin Irrigation System (IBIS), Pakistan has been facing all these social and economic problems, however, the poor and excluded people and communities are the worst sufferers.
Availability of and access to safe drinking water has been emerging as an increasingly acute problem both in urban and rural areas of the country. Scores of recent deaths after drinking poisonous water in the Sindh province highlight the alarming situation vis-a-vis availability of safe drinking water in the country. The multiple factors contributing to drinking water crisis in the country include: lowering of water table due over-extraction of groundwater, leakages in water supply, seepage of fertilizers and sewerage into groundwater, draining out untreated sewerage water into rivers and other sources of fresh surface water. Women and girls are directly affected by the drinking water crisis because they are primarily responsible of water collection.
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