Pakistan is on the brink of a worsening water crisis, one that threatens its inter provincial relationship, agriculture, economy, and food security. Ranked among the most water-stressed nations in the world, it faces the alarming prospect of depleting its water resources within decades.

Yet, despite this growing threat, the country continues to cultivate water-intensive crops like sugarcane and rice, placing an unbearable strain on its dwindling supply.

Inefficient irrigation systems, unchecked groundwater extraction, and weak policies only accelerate the depletion of water, leading to soil salinity and water-logging.

Without urgent action to curb excessive water use, Pakistan risks not only environmental disaster but also economic collapse and widespread food shortages.

Nowhere is this crisis more damaging than in Punjab, Pakistan’s agricultural heartland, where groundwater is being extracted at an unsustainable rate. Each year, Punjab draws an astonishing 50 million acre-feet (MAF) of groundwater — far exceeding the nation’s total surface water storage capacity of just 13.5 MAF.

This relentless extraction, worsened by erratic rainfall and sole reliance on the Indus River Basin, is largely driven by the cultivation of sugarcane and rice.

Farmers, in a desperate bid to sustain their water-intensive crops, drill deeper wells, often tapping into saline water. This not only depletes aquifers but also degrades soil quality, threatening future agricultural yields. If this over-extraction continues unchecked, Punjab could face severe water shortages that would cripple the country’s food production and put millions of........

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