The human race is currently in the middle of a catastrophic explosion; this explosion is the issue of enormous growth in the human population that can also be a precursor to great troubles as the growing population has increased the burden on natural resources in every region of the earth. The population growth rate is three lakh or three and a half lakh people per day, thus annually, the population of the world is increasing by 7 crores.

All of these people will need food, water, clothing and shelter, the difficulty is that a large proportion of this population growth is in areas that are already under resourced.

The tremendous increase in population has made people suffer from hunger, disease, pollution and famine in different parts of the world. If this increase is not stopped, it is feared that the situation will become more disastrous.

Human life in the first period of the evolution of civilization was more than 50 million ten to twelve thousand years ago, but as agricultural activities increased and people began to settle in settlements, it is believed that by the 14th century AD, there were only about one billion people living in the world.

Abundance and limited supply of medicine and food resources kept the population in check in the world. So the experts admitted that there was no significant increase in population for 500 years, but as soon as the industrial revolution took hold of the world, the development of science and especially medical science changed the situation completely.

So, in 1850, the population of the world reached one billion and five billion, but within just one hundred years, that is, five billion people were living in the world until 1987, and now, reaching the twenty-first century, the world’s population has reached eight and a half billion, but an interesting thing is that the industrial revolution. Europe’s birthplace, the EU’s population will decline dramatically by 2050, despite the influx of millions of migrants.

It is estimated that deaths in Europe will continue to exceed births and this trend will continue throughout the EU. According to a recent survey in the European Union, the population of Italy will begin to decrease by 2029, a year after that, that is, in 2030, the population of Germany, Slovakia and Portugal will begin to decrease, while the population of the United Kingdom will continue to increase slightly, but in 2040, the population of the United Kingdom will also begin to decrease. Will be hit.

By 2050, the population of European Union countries will be 450 million, which will decrease by 20 million. The survey comes as Europe faces a pension crisis as most governments fund retirement benefits from taxes paid by employers. Meanwhile, the number of young people in the population of Japan, away from Europe, is rapidly decreasing.

A fifth of Japan’s population consists of elderly people, according to a recent census report of Japan, a fifth of Japan’s population consists of people aged 65 and over, while the number of young people in the country has decreased rapidly since 2004. is happening because of family planning in Japan.

According to the Japanese government, the increase in the population of elderly people in the country and the lack of young people have posed a great threat to the country’s economy and development. In Japan, 21 percent of the population is aged 65 or older.

Recently, the United Nations has also warned that the growing population and the dangerous shortage of water are bringing mankind closer to dangers.  There is a risk of global wars over the distribution and differentiation of water resources, Secretary General Antonio Guterres said at the World Conference on Water Resources held at the UN headquarters, adding that we have destroyed the natural system of water supply and wasted it brutally.

 About 4 billion people experience acute water scarcity for one month each year and 1.6 billion people, a quarter of the world’s population, have difficulty accessing clean, fresh water. According to the latest report, floods have increased by 24% since 2000, while the duration of drought has increased by 29%. Growing population and global economic activity have increased the pressure on water reserves.

Fears are being expressed that water shortage will force millions of people to migrate, water supply will become uncertain in many places due to climate change. 

According to the World Health Organization, only 22 percent of Pakistan’s population has access to clean drinking water, while 85 percent are facing problems. 

Along with preventing wastage of water, recycling and construction of dams for agricultural purposes is our most important national need.

Evidence shows that water scarcity is a major threat in Pakistan. The question is, how big a risk is it? How fast is it growing? And what should we do to deal with it or avoid it?

These are questions that need to be answered as soon as possible, before it’s too late.

According to WWF, the available amount of water in Pakistan is 250 billion cubic meters, of which ninety percent is for agriculture, four percent for industry and the remaining six percent for domestic use. That is, only 15 billion cubic meters of water out of 250 are available for domestic use. If we talk about water for domestic use only, 70% of the 22 crore people do not have access to clean drinking water.

According to the World Financial Organization, Pakistan is at the third place in the list of countries facing water scarcity. Along with this, according to UNDP and Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources, Pakistan will suffer from water shortage by 2025. Researchers also say that if the situation continues and no measures are taken, by 2040 Pakistan will become the most water-scarce country in South Asia.

Published in The Daily National Courier, August, 27 2023

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