By Fakhar-e-Alam
PESHAWAR, JUN 22 (APP/DNA): As the early morning sun casts a golden hue over Peshawar’s dusty roads, the 40-year-old rickshaw driver from Lala Kala village loads six large tanks of clean drinking water from Chamkani, hauling them back home for his extended family of 15.
For many might be taking it as a burden, but Abdul Waheed had been beginning his day with this practice for the past three years, to provide clean drinking water for his family as a necessity of life.
“My brother died of cardiac arrest in 2022, and I took it upon myself to provide clean water for both of our families,” Waheed shared, wiping beads of sweat trailing down his face. “Our local water has turned toxic. And it is not just about thirst anymore but about our survival.”
Waheed is not alone in this struggle. Thousands of residents from Peshawar’s peripheral villages including Tarnab, Akbarpura, Taru, Amankot, Khuderzai, Babay Jadeed, Tarkha, Korvi and Khushmaqam face similar struggles daily in sizzling heat.
Contaminated water is resulting in diseases like cholera, hepatitis A and diarrhea in areas where untreated human and industrial waste and agricultural runoff seep into groundwater supplies and water courses.
The 2022 floods dealt a lasting blow to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s water systems, altering water tables and contaminating wells. Today, nearly 90% of Peshawar’s population reportedly relies on unfiltered water, exposing them to a range of serious health risks.
Even in affluent urban areas like Hayatabad and University Town, clean water is hard to come by. Despite paying municipal taxes, many residents resort to purchasing water from private tankers due to outdated infrastructure and rusted pipelines—some of which haven’t been replaced in decades.
In 2020, KP passed the Water Act to regulate water management and resource allocation. But according to experts, the lack of an operational Water Resources Regulatory Authority and red tapism have hindered its enforcement.
“Clean drinking water has emerged as a major crisis in Peshawar these days,” said Dr. Naeemur Rehman Khattak, former Chairman Economics Department at University of Peshawar. “Despite legislation, poor implementation and weak institutional capacity in KP have turned availability of clean water a daily life challenge.”
Citing declining rainfall, over-extraction by car wash centers, and poor planning as compounding factors, he said, “we’ve seen Pakistan’s per capita water availability falling from 5,260 cubic meters in 1951 to barely 1,000 today. This is water scarcity, plain and simple.”
Amidst this grim scenario where clean drinking water and overall per capita water availability continues to be a challenge, he said new water storage and energy projects are now offering a glimmer of hope for people.
Construction on the Mohmand Dam, one of the largest hydropower projects in Pakistan, is well underway. This 213 meters high dam to be completed by 2027-28 is poised to store 1.29 million acre-feet water, irrigate 18,233 acres of new land and support 160,000 acres of existing farmland. Critically, it will provide 300 million gallons of clean drinking water per day to Peshawar, a game-changer for the city’s residents.
“This dam would not just provide water and power—it will protect districts like Charsadda and Nowshera from floods. It is a lifeline,” said Engr Zahoor, Director at WAPDA.
In tandem with Mohmand Dam, the provincial government is pushing forward with multiple small and medium-sized dam projects to address water and energy woes of the people.
According to Engr Tariq Sadozai, Special Assistant to the Chief Minister on Energy, 56 small dams have already been completed in KP with a total storage capacity of 281,410 acre-feet, irrigating over 300,000 acres of land.
“Unlike mega dams, small dams can be constructed within two to three years and are ideal for the topography of KP,” Sadozai explained. “We are targeting areas like Kohat, Karak, Lakki Marwat, Swabi and Nowshera with 30 more small dams projects, many in the final stages.”
The push for renewable energy is also gaining ground. Eight hydroelectric projects have been completed, generating 172 MW of power and earning the province over Rs five billion annually.
Projects like 84 MW Gorkin Matiltan in Swat and 40.8 MW Koto HPP in Dir are expected to come online this year, contributing to KP’s clean energy goals and providing revenue to fund further water infrastructure.
Despite this progress on the water and energy front, experts caution against viewing dams as a silver bullet. “New storage projects must be environmentally sustainable,” warned Dr. Naeem. “Sedimentation, displacement of communities, and water rights must be addressed carefully.”
Others highlight the need for regulatory enforcement and public education on water conservation. “If unchecked car wash centers and illegal groundwater extraction continue, even our best infrastructure efforts may fall short,” said Dr Nafees Ahmad, Chairman Environmental Sciences Department, Peshawar University.
For now, he hoped that a blend of large-scale infrastructure, community-level interventions, and better governance will steer KP out of its water crisis.
But for people like Abdul Waheed, every rickshaw ride is a reminder of continued struggles that underpin Pakistan’s looming water emergency.
“We need clean water like we need clean air,” Waheed said. “It is not a luxury but a necessity for healthy life.”
