This is the story of a merchant in search of life in the dry mountains of Balochistan. But dozens of such stories are born every day in the Thar Desert, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Azad Kashmir valleys. Now even in the land of five rivers, Punjab is running out of water.
Pakistan is the world's fourth largest user of groundwater. Where 70% of the population depends on this water, a major crisis is looming due to concrete forests, pollution, lack of rainfall and water loss. Not only that, but Pakistan is the 17th country in the world to face severe water problems. If I only talk about Lahore city, the ground water level here is going down by two and a half feet every year and if this is not taken care of, then by the next ten years, ie by 2031, Lahore will run out of drinking water.
Speaking of Shar-e-Quaid, even here the citizens are worried in search of clean water. The city of Quetta is at the mercy of the tanker mafia. Islamabad is the city of power, this city is also being provided water from various artificial sources. Speaking of Sargodha, the city of hawks, just a few days ago, the Punjab government revealed that 90% of the ground water here is polluted. The situation is similar in all the small and big cities of the country.
Today is World Water Day, today millions of people on the planet will pledge to save water, find ways to get rid of water problems. But as Pakistanis, have we ever considered that 52,000 Pakistani children die every year from drinking contaminated water? Who is responsible for this? One and a half percent of the patients who come to the hospitals are related to water borne diseases. What steps have we taken for these thousands of patients? Water is life, so why is life causing death? No steps have been taken at the government level before and no such steps can be expected in the future. But can we do our part to light water for future generations?
While cities are facing other water problems including contaminated water, lack of groundwater, clean water is not available in most parts of the country, let alone a drop of polluted water. In this case, some of the leading people go for the Messiah. Sometimes he is seen digging wells in Thar in the form of Nematullah Khan, sometimes like Abdul Shakoor, he is setting up water projects in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Angels are also present in this land.
On the occasion of World Water Day, the Khidmat Foundation has organized special programs across the country, where boys and girls from universities are volunteering to educate the younger generation about the importance of water. ۔ The Foundation's work includes 140 filtration plants across the country, more than 2,000 wells, about 8,000 hand pumps, and 100 water schemes. Not only that, but the foundation is benefiting thousands of people in Balochistan by implementing karez projects. 3.2 million citizens are benefiting from these service schemes, but out of 220 million Pakistanis, facilities are inadequate for only 3.2 million people. While the role of the government is important to make clean water accessible to everyone, cooperation with these charities is also essential. Because people associated with charities have a passion for cooperating with society. It is this obsession that drives them to the dry plains of Thar, the barren mountains of Balochistan, the snow-capped valleys of Kashmir and the remote villages of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Whenever I see patients suffering from hepatitis due to contaminated water in Lahore, I come across statistics of children suffering from stomach ailments in a remote village, my heart breaks with wounds. When the country's depleted water reservoirs and concrete forests in the cities come to the fore, I shed tears of blood over this progress of the Son of Man.
Today, on the occasion of World Water Day, I want to think of ways to desalinate brackish sea water, dig small artificial lakes around cities, plant trees in the mountains, build dams to protect river water, Thar Find clean water reservoirs from the desert, bring karez to every village in Balochistan, eradicate beans and thorns from the cities of southern Punjab, stand firm in front of big landowners in the tribal areas of Dera Ghazi Khan and Taunsa. Let me tell the story of their occupation of the reserves in front of everyone, helpless in the face of tribal rituals, seek medicine for the pain of the people of Sindh, South Punjab, Waziristan and Balochistan. Provide clean drinking water to 220 million Pakistanis in their homes, but it may not be possible for me to achieve this goal like thousands of aspirations, but I can help charities like Al-Khidmat Foundation individually and collectively to help my aspirations. Are working on this mission.
Let's pledge to ourselves today on World Water Day that no daughter will miss a drop of water in the Thar Desert. Promise yourself that you will not allow any child to get sick from the salt water of South Punjab. Make up your own mind that you will play your part in bringing this blessing of nature to the valleys of Kashmir, the rocky mountains of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the inhabitants of the dry cliffs of Balochistan. Just as a drop of water becomes an ocean, so individual efforts become the basis of a revolution. Wake up before every drop of clean water is squeezed from the ground.
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