With the largest irrigation system, water pricing in Pakistan is believed to help attain sustainable water resources management, as most of the country’s growers irrigate their crops through a massive network of canals, watercourses, and distributaries fed by the Indus River and its tributaries.
This makes it extremely inevitable to rehabilitate and renovate the country’s oldest canal system which is highly affected due to flash floods and lack of proper maintenance, thus unable to cater to modern agricultural requirements. Water pricing is an effective economic tool in optimal water allocation and improving efficiency. Proper implementation of water pricing policy can be proved instrumental in managing water demand and achieving fiscal targets, Malik Ikramullah Khan Dewrah, an agri scientist and member of the agronomists forum disclosed this to media. He was of the view that the existing system of water pricing and its mechanism would have to be simplified till the time a well-conceived and coordinated strategy was put in place.
Revenue collection under irrigation water charges is not encouraging mainly because of the high rate of water taxes, Dewrah added. He said that tube wells also irrigate the fields on a limited scale, but their use was adversely affecting the underground water table. On the other hand, typical differences between the irrigation officials and farmers also exist as both justify their claims. Punjab Irrigation Department’s officials claimed that around Rs 04 billion were being collected from the farmers annually on account of the water rate, while the department had to spend around Rs 20 billion on maintenance and operations of the canals and water channels every year. To a question, the officials said the water rate was much lower than the cost of irrigation through tube wells and other means, arguing that paying one to two thousand rupees was nothing for a farmer, who easily earns Rs 200,000 from a crop.
To another question, they explained that a flat water rate had been charged for the last 20 years, adding earlier the water rate had been crop-specific as some crops consume huge quantities of water such as sugarcane and some crops need very little water such as cotton. They stressed the need for reviving the crop-specific water pricing system, asserting that it would not only be a relief to the farmers but also enhance revenues of the irrigation department enabling it to improve the water channels in a better manner. Pak Kissan Council (PKC) Chairman Tahir Razaq Gujjar said there was a general perception that farmers do not pay taxes but the matter of fact was that prior to reaping a crop, they pay numerous taxes in advance on various inputs such as tax on electricity for agri tube-wells, diesel for agricultural machines, fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides and seeds etc. “Unlike other businessmen and manufacturers, the farmers do not have the right to decide about the price of their produce, which is again very unfortunate and unfair. Where is the Competition Commission of Pakistan, when millers purchase sugarcane at very low price but sell the sugar at an exorbitant rate, while we are also compelled to buy fertilizers from the black market at higher prices,” he argued and suggested that the government must take the stakeholders well on board while formulating any policy or deciding about the water price and other inputs. To a question, Tahir Razaq Gujjar said agricultural land was squeezing due to fast urbanization in the country and in this context, canal water should be in abundance for the remaining agri fields but most of the farmers especially the tail end riparian were not able to receive water due to inefficiency of the irrigation department with regard to completing the brick-lining of water channels and control water theft. The PKC chairman said as much quantum of groundwater was not being recharged as much was being uplift, it aroused the emergent need for adopting modern.
