Need for building water resilient communities as crisis looms over Pakistan

At the World Economic Forum in 2015, water crisis was declared the number one risk that could impact societies globally as a measure of devastation. Due to unsustainable water use, groundwater resources are depleting at an alarming rate in many parts of the world, with almost one in every 10 people (663 million people) not having access to safe water.

In Lahore, the current water withdrawal rate – the total volume removed from a water source such as a lake or river – is more than 17 cubic metres per second per 2.6 square kilometres, leading to a depletion rate of 0.55 metres every year. At this speed, the underground water table would drop by 70 metres by 2025.