Water Access and Contamination Issues

Throughout the duration of the research process, participants continually emphasized the challenges their communities face in accessing water sources — let alone clean drinking water. Pakistan is in the middle of a nationwide water crisis, moving away from a “water stressed” country classification closer to a “water scarce” classification as freshwater resources continue to deplete. 30

Rapid Urbanization and Water Contamination

As climate change pushes people away from their villages and into the cities, urban areas must contend with the impacts of rapid — and often unplanned — urbanization. Rapid urbanization poses an even greater threat to the limited freshwater resources that remain, as access to water becomes increasingly difficult and contamination becomes the norm. While clean drinking water accessibility was an issue that was raised in rural areas throughout the research process, it was the subject that dominated conversations in urban contexts.

Urban environments face even greater water challenges as cities expand informally at a rapid pace, without proper systems and infrastructure plans to keep up with the rising population. In the absence of these essential systems (i.e. waste or sewage), the existing water resources are contaminated and increasingly depleted.

Rawalpindi

Rawalpindi is the fourth-largest city in Pakistan, with a population that continues to rise as Pakistanis migrate to the city in search of better economic opportunities.

During their time in Rawalpindi, our researchers asked questions on the subject of climate change and migration. A number of the women in one focus group were themselves migrants, who previously had no income and who had been impacted by changing weather patterns in AJK, and decided to move to Rawalpindi for greater earning potential and livelihood opportunities. As one woman noted,

“Previously I would have told you that people are not moving here because of climate change. It was purely due to job relocation or seeking new employment opportunities, etc.

However, now, climate change is definitely a factor in people making the decision to come to the city.”

As more and more people migrate to Rawalpindi due to climate change and economic factors, the environmental standards of the city — especially the availability of clean drinking water — are declining.

“Rawalpindi is an unplanned urban slum. People migrated from all over the country for a better chance here, but the result is that the sewage is mixed with the drinking water. We need to have clean drinking water. There’s only one stream we can depend on in Rawalpindi but it is dirty water from Islamabad and a lot of people live there along the stream and make it even worse.”

During a discussion with a women’s selfhelp group in Rawalpindi, the women in the room spoke passionately about water contamination and scarcity in the city. There were many moments in the conversation when all the women were speaking at the same time — even over one another — as they struggled to articulate how dire the water situation is in the city.

“It’s only about 10% of the population here that has access to clean drinking water due to philanthropists. We simply don’t have the right systems to access water.”

MUZAFFARABAD, AJK

While the Neelum River is the main water source for many in AJK, with increasing urbanization, it has also become a large source of solid and human waste. As climate change has an impact on agricultural activities, many have migrated to the city for better economic opportunities. Unfortunately alongside population increases, human activities have depleted existing water resources and polluted the river.

“Before the river water was cold but now it has warmed up due to garbage and pollution. This is a big concern as all pipelines — including sewage — are flowing to and from the river.”

“Because so many people have moved to the city, the stream water is now polluted with garbage and waste and is no longer clean.”

“There is so much human waste and no proper planning.”

“My family is very cautious about our hygiene because we don’t want to contract the water-borne illnesses that are prevalent around here. But there is no way to fully escape them.”

In Muzaffarabad, one young woman in her twenties had the following to say,

“Waste is not being properly disposed of – especially diapers. Before, women were using cloth but today they are using single-use diapers and not disposing of them properly. We should care about this destruction and start to dispose of our garbage and waste properly. This is leading to an increase in diseases. Physical water-borne diseases are already really prevalent. We might have even more diseases in the future because of water contamination. I am also worried about water scarcity in the future. But since young people are being educated, I am hopeful that we can contribute now and find strategies for adaptation.” the area was more than 90% contaminated and even then, accessibility of this water was a major issue. Now, it is 100% clean and available for collection during the mornings and evenings throughout the week. While females were responsible for collecting water before the construction of the plant, now it is all members of society (men, women and children) who access the water resource the plant provides.

Islamic Relief has been on the ground addressing the water crisis by constructing water filtration plants in key areas that have been impacted by contamination.

This particular filtration plant inside the city of Bagh, AJK has been able to serve over 100 households, two hospitals, two schools and a college with approximately 500 students. When Islamic Relief first constructed the filtration plant, the water in

The technical functioning of the filtration plant is as follows: Firstly, water is piped in from the streams of Bagh, where UV lighting kills bacteria and is filtered through tap systems where locals are able to access water and fill up their containers. Islamic Relief works closely with the local community to train filtration plant operators in order to build capacity and promote a sense of ownership over the project. Before the project, residents of Bagh were falling ill from water-borne illnesses that often accompanied the arrival of monsoon seasons, but now these illnesses have become less prevalent.

This project is also an economic benefit for many as people are able to save money because they do not have to buy water, which has been increasing in price due to scarcity and rapid urbanization.