As the water day is being observed across the world on Friday, as many as 64 per cent of Pakistanis are still deprived of their access to the safe and clean drinking water in the country, World Bank in its recent report revealed. The World Bank newly launched ‘Pakistan @ 100’ report showed that only 36 percent of the population having access to safely managed drinking water in the country. The report also highlighted that over 25 per cent of the population may be at risk from arsenic contamination of water while quoting World Bank’s “Pakistan Water Supply and Sanitation Sector, Volume I Urban Water Supply and Sanitation,” 2013 report that confirmed that only five percent of waste water was being collected and treated. Industrial pollutants often contaminated the water as the country lacked the regulated municipal waste water collection systems imperative to remove many toxic chemicals from drinking water. The inadequate quality of drinking water had increasing health and economic repercussions for Pakistanis as poor water supply and sanitation contributed to high levels of childhood stunting eventually undermining the production of human capital, the Pakistan @ 100 report warned.

Source: Pakistan Today March 22, 2019 16:30 UTC