Many think that any talk of water scarcity is nothing but hogwash, but the signs of water stress are almost everywhere in Pakistan – in the form of water scarcity, resource depletion, and contamination.
The sight of water flowing from taps may soon be a luxury, with people having to queue up at tankers for just a bucket load of water for their daily needs. Meanwhile, affluent neighbourhoods in gated communities may install desalination plants paid for (by volume) by wealthy homeowners.
If we are to try and bring some order to this chaotic picture of near future, the starting point for Dr Arif Anwar, who heads the Pakistan office of the non-profit research organization International Water Management Institute (IWMI), will be to ensure that cities are water secure.