Both villages, with a population of 9,870 individuals, will benefit from these facilities. These filtration plants will not only provide safe drinking water to local communities but will help improving the health of people. According to WWF-Pakistan on Monday, the provision of safe drinking water is a basic human right but unfortunately a large number of people in Sindh do not have access to it.
Hence, it believes that there is an urgent need to improve water efficiency, encourage water stewardship, and minimize the negative impacts associated with water use. WWF-Pakistan, with financial support of Titans Autographs and Memorabilia, has initiated the first phase of Project 91 that aims to build and improve 91 sustainable water facilities that provide safe drinking water across Sindh, particularly in less privileged areas.
Sharing his thoughts, WWF-Pakistan Sindh and Balochistan regional head Dr Babar Khan said issues of water scarcity and poor water quality have serious economic and environmental consequences. He mentioned that children in many areas of Sindh particularly Tharparkar and the coastal belt suffer from water-borne diseases. Moreover, pollution, dams, overuse of water resources, climate change and other impacts made freshwater habitats and species more vulnerable than any other ecosystem type. He added, "We need to ensure everyone around the world has safe, sustainable access to freshwater for drinking, health and sanitation. I hope that this joint initiative will help provide safe drinking water to local communities across the province."
While, Titans Autographs and Memorabilia president Yusuf Amanullah said availability of safe drinking water has become a matter of life and death for people as freshwater resources are shrinking at a fast pace due to various reasons. He informed that between 1990 and 2017, water availability fell from 2,172 cubic meters per citizen to just 930 cubic meters per citizen. He warned that if this trend continues, Pakistan will run out of water by the year 2025, spelling disaster for the entire nation. He urged that it is high time to conserve freshwater bodies and make effective use of available water resources.
It is revealed through field surveys by WWF-Pakistan that unfiltered and unsafe water is supplied to the people of Thatta exposing them to dangers of various waterborne diseases. In December 2016, a judicial commission was set up to investigate the quality of drinking water in Sindh, with 118 samples collected from different locations in Karachi.