Pakistan is currently facing an acute water shortage that is likely to wreck havoc in the country in the coming years. Recently, the Indus River System Authority (IRSA) highlighted a grave water shortage in the Indus Basin irrigation system (IBIS), the world’s largest contiguous irrigation system, for the summer cropping season. The timing of the crisis is critical and had delayed the sowing of the country’s main cash crops, including cotton. Experts believe the authorities were aware of the approaching acute water shortage because of shortages during the winter cropping season.

In Pakistan, the signs of water stress are ubiquitous in the form of water scarcity, resource depletion, and contamination. The catastrophe implicates the country’s incompetent leadership, and its inept administration and poor management of available natural water resources. This has made Pakistan vulnerable to long drought spells and extreme floods. The climate change-led water crisis not only poses a threat to the summer cropping season but has also adversely affected the generation of hydroelectricity.

Such a crisis is inevitable in a country where political leaders are busy slinging mud at each other in a lust for power while lacking vision. These leaders also oppose the construction of new infrastructure for storing water. The fact that the word “dam” has been made highly controversial and that its use often spurs heated discussions between the constituent provinces aptly highlights Pakistan’s predicament.