Pakistan is standing at the precipice of an environmental catastrophe, one shaped not only by the familiar spectre of climate change but by the country’s own unchecked exploitation of its most vital resource: water.
At a recent event titled “Building Water-Sensitive Communities: Collaborative Solutions for Freshwater Sustainability,” experts warned of the deepening crisis facing Pakistan’s freshwater ecosystems.
The message was unambiguous—unregulated and excessive extraction of groundwater is driving ecological collapse, accelerating a downward spiral for rivers, lakes, and aquifers that once sustained life and livelihoods.
Groundwater depletion at a dangerous pace
Water has always been central to Pakistan’s survival.
The Indus River system is the lifeline of the country, supporting agriculture, industries, and human consumption for millions.
Yet the nation’s insatiable demand for water, combined with poor regulation and outdated practices, has pushed groundwater reserves toward dangerous depletion.
Dr. Masood Arshad, Senior Director of WWF’s Freshwater Programme, underscored the gravity of the crisis, pointing to how the unregulated pumping of groundwater is damaging fragile ecosystems.
Across the Indus, Keenjhar Lake, and the Ravi River, the signs of collapse are increasingly visible: shrinking wetlands, vanishing fish populations, and rising water salinity.
This problem is compounded by Pakistan’s demographic and agricultural pressures.
With a population surpassing 240 million, demand for water continues to surge, yet conservation and regulation remain virtually absent.
Farmers rely heavily on tubewells to irrigate their fields, sucking aquifers dry at unsustainable rates.
Urban centres, too, are engaged in reckless over-extraction, with groundwater serving as the main source of drinking water for millions of households.
The Indus under siege
The Indus River, once a mighty artery flowing through the length of the country, is increasingly reduced to a shadow of itself.
Excessive extraction, coupled with upstream diversions and the impacts of climate change, has left vast stretches of the river struggling to maintain flow.
The ecological consequences are dire. Reduced water availability undermines agriculture, but even more devastating is the loss of biodiversity.
Species that depend on the river’s flow, from migratory birds to freshwater dolphins, are vanishing as their habitats shrink.
Communities that once thrived along the Indus find themselves more vulnerable to both droughts and floods, locked in a cycle of scarcity and excess.
Keenjhar Lake: A collapsing ecosystem
Keenjhar Lake, one of Pakistan’s largest freshwater lakes and a critical Ramsar site, is another ecosystem facing ruin.
Over-extraction from groundwater reserves feeding the lake, combined with pollution and mismanagement, has turned this once-thriving ecosystem into a declining habitat.
Fish stocks are dwindling, livelihoods dependent on the lake are collapsing, and the balance of aquatic biodiversity is being irreversibly disrupted.
The lake is not just a natural wonder—it is a critical resource for Karachi and the surrounding areas, supplying water to millions.
Its degradation signals a wider collapse of human security, where ecological damage directly translates into threats to public health and livelihoods.
The Ravi River’s silent decline
The Ravi River presents yet another stark example of ecological destruction.
Once a vibrant waterway, it is now choked by unchecked pollution and reduced flows due to groundwater extraction.
Industrial waste and untreated sewage pour into the river, compounding the degradation caused by falling water levels.
Communities along the Ravi, which once relied on the river for sustenance, now face contaminated water and deteriorating livelihoods.
The river’s decline represents the wider pattern of abuse that Pakistan’s freshwater systems endure: treated as bottomless resources for extraction and dumping grounds for waste, with no thought for long-term sustainability.
Climate shocks amplify the collapse
Groundwater depletion does not exist in isolation.
It compounds Pakistan’s vulnerability to climate shocks, amplifying the devastation wrought by extreme weather.
The 2022 monsoon floods, which submerged a third of the country and displaced millions, served as a brutal reminder of how fragile the nation’s water management system has become.
With aquifers depleted and ecosystems degraded, the capacity of natural systems to absorb and recover from climate extremes has weakened.
Floods become deadlier, droughts more punishing, and the cycle of disaster more unrelenting. Groundwater, once a buffer during lean seasons, is no longer reliable. Instead, it has become yet another casualty of unregulated exploitation.
A crisis of governance
At the heart of this crisis lies a failure of governance.
Regulation of groundwater extraction is almost nonexistent, leaving individuals, industries, and farmers free to exploit reserves unchecked.
The absence of a coherent national water policy that enforces limits and ensures sustainability has created an environment where short-term gains take precedence over long-term survival.
Pakistan’s water infrastructure, heavily reliant on canals and outdated irrigation methods, exacerbates waste and inefficiency.
Nearly 90% of the country’s freshwater is consumed by agriculture, much of it lost to flood irrigation practices that squander resources.
Yet rather than addressing inefficiencies or reining in extraction, policymakers have allowed the crisis to deepen year after year.
Communities at the brink
The human cost of this ecological collapse is severe.
Rural communities, heavily dependent on groundwater for farming and drinking, are among the hardest hit.
Wells are running dry, forcing villagers to drill deeper into aquifers at higher costs, often yielding water that is saline and unsafe.
For the poorest, the lack of clean and accessible water has become a daily struggle for survival.
In urban areas, where groundwater underpins drinking supplies, the consequences are equally stark.
Karachi, Lahore, and Islamabad face increasing shortages, with residents often dependent on costly private tankers.
The divide between those who can afford access and those who cannot is deepening, turning water into yet another marker of inequality.
The road to ecological ruin
Unchecked groundwater extraction is not simply a technical issue—it is an existential threat to Pakistan’s environmental and social stability.
The degradation of the Indus, Keenjhar Lake, and the Ravi River reflects a larger unravelling of ecosystems that have long supported the nation’s people.
Each passing year of over-extraction digs the country deeper into a crisis that will not easily be reversed.
The continued collapse of freshwater systems leaves Pakistan more exposed to food insecurity, health crises, and climate-driven disasters.
What emerges is a bleak trajectory, one where ecosystems collapse and human communities are dragged down with them.
A nation running dry
Pakistan’s water crisis is no longer a distant warning; it is a present reality unfolding in rivers that no longer flow, lakes that no longer thrive, and aquifers that no longer replenish.
The unchecked extraction of groundwater has accelerated ecological collapse, leaving freshwater ecosystems gasping under the weight of human demand and neglect.
The warnings from experts are clear: the Indus, Keenjhar Lake, and the Ravi River are not simply natural wonders but lifelines. Their decline is not only an environmental tragedy but a national crisis that threatens livelihoods, biodiversity, and survival itself.
As Pakistan’s population grows and climate shocks intensify, the country is running headlong into an ecological abyss. The silence of its collapsing freshwater ecosystems echoes the silence of governance and the indifference of those who should have acted long ago.
