For the first time ever, the depletion of Lahore’s underground water has stopped. According to the details, the Lahore Water and Sanitation Agency (WASA) has been able to curb the depletion of the underground water aquifer by taking necessary steps to control the excessive use of groundwater.
The level of the underground water had been dropping by one meter per year since 1960, which meant that it was running down by 3.37 feet per year.
The minimum and maximum levels of underground water level in 1960 were 5.7 meters and 15.695 meters respectively and were 23.500 meters and 50.150 meters respectively in 2018.
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The minimum and maximum levels of underground water aquifer had improved slightly in 2019 and had reached 23 meters and 50 meters respectively, while in 2020, the level had remained the same.
According to the WASA Managing Director, Syed Zahid Aziz, the drinking water in Pakistan has declined by six times per capita since 1960.
“Nature has blessed Pakistan with abundant water but extraordinary population growth is a major reason for the decline in water availability,” he said.
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He said that it is quite an achievement that the WASA had been able to maintain the minimum and maximum levels of underground water aquifer.
“If this depletion continued, then in the coming years, the city may witness water scarcity,” he claimed.
He said that the WASA had taken a number of steps to halt the depletion of Lahore’s underground water by introducing the licensing system, imposing aquifer charges, launching the recycling of car washing water at 310 service stations in Lahore, and introducing the reuse of ablution water at 200 mosques.
