ISLAMABAD – Senate Chairman Yousaf Raza Gilani on Monday pledged parliamentary support through legislation, oversight and budgetary allocations to advance commitments made at Pakistan Water Week 2026, calling water security a national priority.
Inaugurating the sixth edition of the conference, Mr Gilani said Parliament must ensure that water policies translate into practical improvements for farming communities and people facing floods and shortages.
The five-day event, being held in Islamabad from Nov 2 to 6, focuses on turning commitments into action to strengthen water security and climate-resilient food systems. More than 200 participants attended the opening session.
Mr Gilani identified three areas for parliamentary action: enforceable legislation, effective oversight and sustained funding. He called for the full implementation of provincial water laws and stronger groundwater governance.
Parliament, he said, must ask whether policies were reaching farmers at the tail end of irrigation networks and whether flood warnings were reaching villages in time. Budgets should prioritise prevention alongside disaster relief, he added.
The Senate chairman said solar-powered pumps had provided relief to farmers but needed to be accompanied by rules governing groundwater extraction. He called for careful regulation of aquifers, planned recharge and the use of floodwater to replenish underground reserves.
Sharing reliable data could help build trust between provinces, he said, adding that women, young people and farming communities must be involved as partners in water management.
Recalling his experience as prime minister during the 2010 floods, Mr Gilani said Pakistan faced the twin challenges of devastating floods and declining water availability.
He said the 2022 floods had affected about 33 million people and caused more than $30 billion in damage and economic losses, while nearly seven million people were affected by floods last year. Meanwhile, per capita water availability had fallen from more than 5,000 cubic metres to about 1,000 cubic metres.
“Too much water and too little, sometimes in the same districts within the same year,” he said.
Stressing that “response is not resilience”, he questioned whether reconstruction efforts were reducing risks or recreating existing vulnerabilities.
Mr Gilani also reiterated Pakistan’s position that the Indus Waters Treaty remained valid and binding, saying water must never be used as an instrument of pressure. He called for a water-secure and flood-resilient Pakistan by its centenary in 2047.
IWMI Pakistan Country Representative Dr Muhammad Ashraf said water security was closely linked to food security, climate resilience and economic stability. Each conference session should produce a clear commitment, identify responsibility and set a timeline for action, he added.
In his keynote address, IWMI Strategic Programme Director for Water, Food and Ecosystems Dr Mohsin Hafeez said Pakistan had substantial evidence and ideas but needed a shared commitment to put them into practice.
Decisions taken in Islamabad must bring tangible changes for farmers, he said. The conference is organised by IWMI and the CGIAR Policy Innovations Science Program in collaboration with the Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources and the Ministry of Water Resources.
Its programme includes two thematic tracks, with 13 sessions each, alongside plenaries on development partners’ water and climate priorities and water governance in the Indus Basin. The closing ceremony is scheduled for Nov 5, while the event runs until Nov 6.
Concluding his address, Mr Gilani urged participants to consider what their commitments would change for a farmer in Thar, a family living along the Ravi or a child in Quetta waiting for clean water.
