Sometimes there is an ache that doesn't get reported in the newspaper, like floods or landslides. It occurs gradually, village by village, well by well, year by year, as groundwater levels fall and families have to travel further each morning to collect their water in one clay pot. Clean water is a luxury in rural areas in countries like Pakistan.
For years, this has been the crisis that Saylani Welfare International Trust has been striving to resolve, not by providing temporary assistance but through a long-term, infrastructure-based solution related to access to water.
A Crisis Hidden in Plain Sight
The story is best conveyed through Tharparkar. The desert of Sindh, where over 25 droughts have occurred since 1968, occurs every 3 years or so. The annual precipitation in the area ranges from as low as 9 mm, and groundwater that is available is often brackish, polluted, or lies too deep to be drilled without special equipment. Droughts in the region have been reported for years, and according to the reports, thousands of children have died due to malnutrition and the lack of safe drinking water.
This is where the efforts to save lives from heatwaves in Pakistan come into significance. In rural areas of Sindh and Punjab, when the heat of summer kicks in above 40°C, a situation of acute water shortage becomes a dehydration and heat illness challenge as well.
Saylani Welfare Water Program
A journey from Karachi's Slums to Thar's Deserts
The Saylani Welfare water program was a solution to the problem of drinking water in contaminated tap lines, which was a very local issue, as the families in the low-income settlements of Karachi could not afford to purchase bottled or filtered water. Saylani Welfare, in response, has announced plans to install RO plants in every nook and corner of the city, with the organization bearing all the installation and maintenance costs without burdening the residents with utility bills and security costs. The plants are able to filter and purify the underground water source and turn it into safe drinking water, while avoiding the already-strained main water source in the city.
This project started in Karachi and has grown to become one of the most ambitious projects to date by a charitable organization in Pakistan to make water available in the Thar region through the extension of water system infrastructure of Saylani Welfare, with the help of reverse osmosis technology, to some of the most water-scarce desert areas in the country. Today, Saylani's clean water mission has enabled tens of millions of litres of safe drinking water to be available for everyone.
Hand Pumps as a Line of Defense
Though RO plants may solve water quality issues, the majority of water challenges in rural Pakistan are related to water accessibility. This is where Hand Pump donation programmes are really important. A well-working hand pump can provide an entire village with a reliable source of groundwater, without resorting to electricity, diesel generators, or expensive equipment that may break down in remote locations.
The model has successfully been used throughout the water distribution NGO Pakistan has reported to have installed thousands of hand pumps in affected areas during drought, many of which have been funded through individual donations, a surprisingly low cost for what can be the lifeline of an entire community. This kind of grassroots water infrastructure is a testament to the recognition that large treatment plants are important, but in isolated desert villages, a well-targeted water pump donation Pakistan is more effective than much more costly interventions.
Why do Heatwave Zones Require Both Quantity and Quality?
Water scarcity in rural areas in Pakistan is not only a lack of water, but also a problem with water quality. The continued use of untreated groundwater has been associated with various health issues, such as fluorosis in areas like Tharparkar due to high fluoride concentration in the groundwater. Brackish or saline groundwater makes potable water undrinkable or unsafe to consume without treatment in other areas.
That's why the Saylani Welfare water program must be run on two fronts—there must be more water available (as seen in the hand pumps and wells), and there must be more safe water available (as seen in the filtration and reverse osmosis systems). This is even more important in a heatwave. In extreme heat, the human body loses water at a faster rate, giving people in areas where there is a sparse supply of water to make a difficult choice: risk dehydration or consume water with the potential of health risks. Both choices are wrong, and addressing just one side of the issue will leave the other side just as lethal. That is why heatwave water relief Pakistan programs are so helpful to solve these problems.