In a surprising disclosure, the administration revealed in the National Assembly that the vast majority of Pakistani cities, including megacities, lack adequate drinking water for inhabitants.
In 20 of the 29 cities where the Pakistan Council of Research of Water Resources (PCRWR) examined subsurface water, more than half of the water acquired from diverse sources was determined to be dangerous.
The PCRWR has announced 100 percent of subterranean water in three cities in Sindh and Gilgit, namely Mirpurkhas and Shaheed Benazirabad (Nawabshah).
Surprisingly, the analysis shows that underground water gathered from nine sources in Sialkot and Gujrat is 100 percent safe to consume.
Multan (94%), Karachi (93%), Badin (92%), Sargodha (83%), Hyderabad (80%), Bahawalpur (76%), Muzaffarabad (70%), Sukkur (67%), Faisalabad (59%), Peshawar (58%), Tando Allah Yar (57%), Loralai (54%), Quetta (53%) and Gujranwala (53%) are the other cities with more than 50% of (50pc).
Arsenic, iron, fluoride, and bacteria were found to be present in the subsurface water. According to the ministry, water quality monitoring in the country’s other 29 cities (2020-21) found a high incidence of bacteriological contamination (39%) followed by arsenic (8%), nitrate (4%), and fluoride (4%). Overall, he said that 38 percent of the examined water sources were deemed safe in 29 major cities.
