Before dawn breaks over Peshawar, when most of the city is still asleep, 30-year-old taxi driver Kamal Khan is already on the road amid rising temperatures. His destination is not a workplace or a market; instead, he heads toward a water filtration plant to collect clean drinking water — a daily journey that has become a lifeline for his family. With four plastic tanks tied carefully onto his taxi, Kamal travels several kilometers every morning before returning home, where 12 family members depend on the clean water he brings.
A Burden of Survival
“My father passed away from cancer, and the whole burden of the family fell on me,” Kamal recalled, wiping sweat from his forehead under the scorching summer sun. “The water in our area has become unsafe. What I bring home every day is not a luxury but an essential commodity for our survival.” His painful story mirrors the reality faced by thousands of families across Peshawar’s outskirts, including Tarnab, Akbarpura, Taru, Amankot, Khuderzai, Babay Jadeed, Tarkha, Korvi, and Khushmaqam, where residents struggle to secure safe drinking water amid rising temperatures and shrinking water resources in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).
Health Risks and Infrastructure Gaps
Health experts warn that waterborne diseases such as cholera, hepatitis A, and diarrhea, caused by untreated sewage, industrial discharge, leaking pipes, and agricultural runoff, often contaminate rivers and groundwater sources, exposing poor people to life-threatening diseases in KP. According to water experts, nearly 90 percent of Peshawar and Nowshera’s population still relies on unfiltered water sources, exposing many to serious health complications. In affluent neighborhoods such as posh Hayatabad and University Town in Peshawar, residents are increasingly depending on private water tankers despite paying municipal taxes. Aging pipelines, leakage, and decades-old infrastructure in several areas of the inner city have reduced the reliability of public water supplies.
Water Scarcity: A City-Wide Challenge
“Water scarcity is no longer a problem limited to villages; it has emerged as a problem for city dwellers,” said Sumbul Riaz, an economist. “It has become a city-wide challenge affecting rich and poor alike,” she reiterated. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa enacted the Water Act in 2020 to improve regulation and management of water resources. However, experts argue that implementation remains weak. “The law was an important step, but institutions responsible for enforcement need to work actively, especially in its implementation on the ground,” Sumbul Riaz said. “Without an effective Water Resources Regulatory Authority, illegal water extraction by car washing pumps, wastage, and poor planning continue largely unchecked in KP.”
Hope from Mega Projects
Against this grim water backdrop, a series of water storage and hydropower projects are generating optimism among residents and policymakers. Foremost among them is the Mohmand Dam, one of Pakistan’s largest hydropower and water storage projects currently under construction on the River Swat. Standing 213 meters high, Mohmand Dam is expected to become the world’s fifth-tallest concrete-faced rockfill dam upon completion. Wapda officials said the project will store about 1.29 million acre-feet of water, irrigate thousands of acres of agricultural land, and provide approximately 300 million gallons of clean drinking water daily to Peshawar. Beyond drinking water, it will help protect districts such as Charsadda, Peshawar, and Nowshera from devastating floods while generating affordable electricity.
For residents like Kamal, such water projects offer a rare source of optimism for water-scarce KP. “If the dam can bring clean water directly to our homes, it will change our lives,” he said. “Our children deserve a better future where they do not have to worry about every glass of water they drink.” Alongside mega water projects, the provincial government is investing in dozens of smaller dams designed to meet local needs more quickly. The spokesman of the Directorate of Small Dams KP said that about 56 small dams have already been completed across the province. Together, they can store more than 281,000 acre-feet of water and irrigate over 300,000 acres of agricultural land. Small dams are particularly suited to KP’s mountainous terrain, cost-effective, and can be completed within a few years, directly benefiting local communities. He said work is progressing on around 30 additional small dam projects in districts including Kohat, Karak, Lakki Marwat, Swabi, and Nowshera. Moreover, eight hydropower projects have already been completed, generating around 172 megawatts of electricity and producing huge annual revenue.
Sustainability and Management Concerns
“Storage projects are important, but they must be environmentally sustainable,” Sumbul Riaz reiterated. “Issues such as sedimentation, displacement of communities, and equitable water distribution require careful planning and execution.” Environmental experts also stressed the need for stronger regulation of groundwater extraction and greater public awareness about water conservation in KP. “If illegal boreholes and unchecked commercial water usage continue, the pressure on groundwater reserves will remain severe,” said Dr. Salimur Rehman, former Chairman of the Environmental Sciences Department at the University of Peshawar. “Infrastructure must be complemented by responsible management and public participation.” As temperatures continue to soar across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, residents remain hopeful that a combination of dams, improved governance, and public awareness can help avert a deeper water crisis in the province.
