DEVELOPMENT OF SUSTAINABLE STRATEGIES AND PLANS TO COMBAT THE WATER STRESS CHALLENGES IN LAHORE, PAKISTAN

Abstract

Lahore is a Mega Metropolitan City located in Punjab, Pakistan. With a population
of 13 Million people, it is the second largest city in the country. It is located on the alluvial plain of the
Indus basin at an altitude ranging between 682 ft to 698 ft above mean sea level. It is bounded by the
Ravi River in the Northwest and Banbanwala- Ravi-Bedian-Depalpur (BRBD) Link Canal and its offtakes
in
the
north
and
east.
Ground-water
is
the
only
source
for
domestic,
commercial,
and
industrial

use
in
the
city.
The
unplanned
excessive
pumpage
of
ground
water
is
a
constant
threat
to
the
Lahore

aquifer,
which
is
depleting
rapidly
(Ahmad,
1974;
Rosemann,
2005).
In
1947
the
groundwater
depth
in

Lahore
city
was
15
to
16
feet
which
has
now
depleted
to
about
150
feet
that
come
to
almost
2.50
feet

per

year. River Ravi has been the major source of freshwater recharging into the Lahore aquifer for
millennia, but the hydrological scenario has radically changed over the last few decades (Qureshi and
Sayed, 2013; Ahmad et al., 2002; NESPAK et al., 1987). The Indus Water Treaty of 1960 granted the
neighboring country India exclusive rights over the three eastern rivers, including the River Ravi, as a
result of which the flows into River Ravi started diminishing gradually. After the construction of Thein
Dam on river Ravi in India during the year 2000, the flows in the river have drastically reduced,
resulting in depleted recharge to the aquifer around the river. The factors responsible for the depletion
of the Lahore aquifer have been enumerated and alternate sources to make up and sustain the water
supplies to the metropolitan have been proposed.