ISLAMABAD, May 19: Pakistan’s rapidly melting glaciers are becoming one of the country’s most serious long-term climate threats, raising concerns over future water availability, food security and energy stability, climate change expert Ali Tauqeer Sheikh has warned.
Speaking to Wealth Pakistan, Sheikh said glaciers in the upper Indus basin were receding at an accelerated pace, threatening water resources relied upon by millions of people for agriculture, drinking water and economic activity across the region.
He said the current rise in glacial melt was temporarily increasing water flows, but Pakistan lacked the infrastructure and efficiency needed to properly manage and store the excess water.
“This permanent reduction means that in the next two or three decades we will begin to see large-scale water scarcity,” Sheikh said.
According to him, shrinking glacier-fed river systems could lead to lower agricultural productivity, more frequent droughts and increased internal migration in the future.
Climate change disrupting agriculture and food supply
Sheikh said climate change was already affecting Pakistan’s food production system through unpredictable monsoon patterns, delayed rainfall and shifting rain zones.
He warned that crop damage caused by changing weather patterns was weakening harvests and increasing Pakistan’s exposure to global food price pressures.
The climate expert also highlighted concerns over rising fertiliser costs, declining crop nutrition and changes in cropping patterns, saying these factors could further destabilise the agriculture sector.
He stressed that agriculture remained central to Pakistan’s economy and export earnings, making climate-related disruptions a growing national concern.
Hydropower and water storage under pressure
Sheikh said Pakistan’s hydropower infrastructure was also facing increasing risks because glacier-fed water supplies were becoming less reliable.
“We may have dams constructed, but we may not have a consistent water supply in our dams,” he said.
He added that older reservoir projects could become less effective because of unstable water flows, sedimentation and higher evaporation losses.
Discussing regional trends, Sheikh noted that rising temperatures in the upper Indus basin and Afghanistan were accelerating glacier melt and affecting river systems linked to Pakistan.
Call for urgent adaptation measures
The climate expert called for urgent reforms to improve water management and climate adaptation planning.
He urged authorities to discourage settlements near water bodies, improve water-use efficiency, reduce dependence on water-intensive crops such as rice and sugarcane, and expand groundwater recharge systems.
Sheikh also warned that Pakistan’s water availability could decline significantly by 2047 while the population continues to grow.
He called for stronger groundwater regulation and said the increasing solarisation of tube wells was accelerating groundwater over-extraction.
According to Sheikh, solar-powered tube wells should be paired with efficient irrigation systems and stronger monitoring to ensure sustainable water use in the future.
