PM for integrated approach to address water-related issues
PM highlights issue of water scarcity to meet the growing demands of increasing population
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday emphasized upon following an integrated approach for conservation, storage, management and efficient utilization of the available water resources.
While presiding over first meeting of the National Water Council (NWC) held at PM Office, he underscored the need for chalking out a comprehensive roadmap, in consultation with provinces and other stakeholders, for the implementation of National Water Policy (NWP).
The prime minister highlighted the issue of water scarcity to meet the growing demands of increasing population of the country. He observed that the NWC would serve as an effective platform to discuss and develop consensus among the stakeholders on all issues pertaining to water resource management.
Secretary Water Resources Shamail Ahmad Khawaja apprised the meeting about the contours of NWP and the strategic priorities set in the policy.
He also briefed the meeting about the existing water availability and the planned future investments especially towards enhancement of the storage capacity.
The secretary also presented various proposals regarding the implementation of National Water Policy.
The WAPDA chairman briefed the meeting about the progress on various projects of water storage and power generation.
PM Imran Khan directed that the proposals should be analyzed by the steering committee under the minister for water resources. The steering committee would submit its recommendations in two weeks’ time.
The meeting was attended by Minister for Finance Asad Umar, Minister for Planning Khusro Bakhtiar, Minister for Power Omar Ayub, Minister for Water Resources, Faisal Vawda, Minister for National Food Security Sahibzada Mehboob Sultan, Advisor to PM Malik Amin Aslam, Chief Minister Sindh Syed Murad Ali Shah, Chief Minister KP Mahmood Khan, Chief Minister Balochistan Jam Kamal Khan, Chief Minister Gilgit Baltistan Hafiz Hafeez-ur-Rehman, Prime Minister AJK Raja M Farooq Haider Khan, provincial ministers, federal secretaries, chief scretaries, Chairman WAPDA and senior officials.
